Whitney Davis knew what his job was last night against Bowling Green and that was to defend the Mid-American Conference's leading scorer, Martin Samarco.
Davis not only punched his card but also put in some overtime. The Ohio guard contained Samarco and scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Bobcats to an 88-63 win over the Falcons on the road last night in Anderson Arena.
Anyone can put the ball in the basket
we all are Division I players and everyone is capable of making shots Davis said. Not everyone can lock down on the team's best player but that is something I take a lot of pride in.
While Samarco reached his average of 19 points per game, most of his scoring came from the free-throw line. Davis made him work for everything as the Bowling Green guard went 5-of-15 from the floor. On the other hand, Davis shot 9-of-19, including six 3-pointers.
Davis got hot from the field early as the Bowling Green defense lagged off the perimeter to crowd the inside. Davis converted on his first shot from beyond the arc and found his groove for the remainder of the game.
They were sagging off a lot to help in the paint
so I got the ball wide open and had to shoot and I made my first one
Davis said. They started to feel good
so I let my shots fly from there on.
One man helping Davis out was point guard Sonny Troutman, who did a little bit of everything by scoring 12 points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing two steals. Troutman took advantage of the Falcons' collapsing defense by finding his teammates as all five starters reached double figures in scoring.
I just got into the gaps and looked to find open guys and got them the ball
Troutman said. Whitney was amazing tonight. He is a phenomenal defender and was knocking down shots too.
Coach Tim O'Shea said Davis' game was what he has come to expect from his experienced player.
Whitney played terrific and that is what seniors are supposed to do
O'Shea said. He had a tremendous night shooting the ball and is a great lock-down defender. He was clearly the best player out there tonight.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bobcats as they kept themselves in the running for a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. The 25-point victory marks the first time Ohio has defeated Bowling Green on the road in two straight years since it did so in 1992 and 1993.
Ohio will return to Athens after three games on the road and host Kent State on Saturday with renewed confidence. O'Shea was pleased about winning and coming back home for the next two games, but assured he wasn't overlooking anyone with three tough games to go.
It was a terrific win and it keeps us in contention for the first-round bye
O'Shea said. It is a long road to hoe though
but one down
three to go.
