The Ohio men's basketball team hit a brick wall last night at Bowling Green. That wall's name was Scott Vandermeer.
Vandermeer, a 6-foot-11-inch freshman center, had his best game of the year, keeping the Bobcats frustrated in the paint with a school-record tying seven blocks.
During the second half, the Falcons flew past the Bobcats (12-8 overall, 7-5 Mid-American Conference), who were running on a single day's rest, and defeated the Bobcats 78-63 to snap Ohio's four-game winning streak.
The Falcons (13-6, 7-4 MAC) were ready for the rematch with the Bobcats after dropping the teams' first meeting in The Convo by three points.
Ohio looked poised to win its second straight road game heading into halftime with a 28-26 lead, thanks to smothering defense and by forcing Bowling Green into 10 turnovers.
However, the tide changed quickly as the Falcons went on a 22-5 run, including a stretch where they hit four straight 3-pointers.
The Falcons continued to scorch the nets as they built an 18-point lead with less than 10 minutes to play. They went on to shoot 60 percent from the field in the half.
Coach Tim O'Shea said the team just wasn't itself, as they couldn't put together a run.
We didn't have good ball movement
and it really wasn't one of our better nights O'Shea said. They started hitting shots and went on a run and we couldn't respond.
Vandermeer shut down the Bobcats' inside game. He and the rest of the Falcons prevented Leon Williams from scoring in a game for the first time in his career. The 'Cats'' other inside scorer, Terren Harbut, was limited to only four points, all of which came in the closing minutes of the game.
Harbut said Ohio's team game suffered in the second half mostly due to bad ball movement.
Our ball pressure slacked off quite a bit in the second half and was a big difference in the game Harbut said. It wasn't their defense preventing our offense as much as it was our lack of ball movement and team game.
Despite the growing deficit, the Bobcats didn't give up as they struggled to put on the late run they have been known for all season. The Bobcats continued to play pressure defense and ended up forcing Bowling Green into 20 turnovers, but the offense was nowhere to be found.
Ohio began fouling the Falcons and calling timeouts to preserve the game clock, but Bowling Green hit 19-of-20 free throws to sustain its lead. The Bobcats' comeback chance evaporated as the team's exhaustion set in during its fourth game in eight days. They never got the score closer than 14 points.
Mychal Green led the Bobcats with a game-high 18 points and also grabbed three steals, coming off his nine-point performance last Saturday.
It was tough to play Saturday and then go on the road tonight on a Monday
Green said. They made some good tough shots
and that was the benefit of playing at home. Their defense was grabbing and holding onto us tonight
and it was real frustrating.
Guard Jeremy Fears followed him with 15 points. Sonny Troutman, the current MAC East Player of the Week, had 12 points, four assists and two steals in his 28 minutes. Troutman is the second Bobcat in a row to win the award, as Green won it last week.
The Bobcats have the rest of the week off to prepare for their home rematch against rival Miami at 4 p.m. Saturday in The Convo.
17
Archives
Nick Miller
200502083140midsize.jpg
