Ohio traveled to Belmont on Monday for its season opener. It was a close game that went down to the last bit of time.
A.J. Clayton caught a long pass from Miles Brown at the other end of the court with only a handful of seconds left in the game. Clayton immediately shot from beyond the arc and put Ohio two points ahead of Belmont. Belmont’s Cade Tyson then put up a 3-pointer to win the game with a second left. Ohio boarded the bus with a 70-69 loss.
Here are the numbers to know:
4
Dwight Wilson III had an incredible night for the Bobcats. He led both teams with 20 points and eight rebounds. Wilson was 4-for-4 from the line and 8-for-10 from the field.
Wilson has always been a strong shooter with the Bobcats. During the 2020 season, Wilson shot a team-high 64.4% from the field, which set a new single-season field goal percentage record for the Bobcats. Wilson’s shooting will be important for the Bobcats the rest of the season.
9
Ohio has improved its 3-point shooting since the Capital exhibition where it shot 2-for-23. On Monday, Ohio shot 9-for-20 from beyond the arc. Its best shooting came in the first half, where it was 6-for-11.
Miles Brown had the best night from beyond the arc. He made two of three 3-pointers he attempted. DeVon Baker also made two of four attempts.
30
Belmont held the lead for 30 minutes and 19 seconds, while Ohio barely held it for eight minutes. Ohio entered halftime down by seven points and despite outscoring Belmont in the second half, it never had substantial time in the driver’s seat.
Part of what made Belmont successful was its 22 points off the bench. Ohio’s bench was not explosive and it didn’t always provide the change necessary to win. Ohio even used more bench players than Belmont, but Belmont had more quality minutes.
