Ohio (7-8, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) had the chance to flip the script of some of its previous negative results with a promising second-half rally against Bowling Green (11-4, 2-1 MAC). However, the comeback fell short and Ohio lost 83-78.
While in some of Ohio's losses, the team's strong first-half performances went to waste in the second half, Tuesday's game against Bowling Green didn't follow the same outline. Ohio fell behind by three at halftime after some slight struggles from the field; despite this, Ohio never allowed Bowling Green to create a lead larger than five in the first half.
Ohio's biggest adversity came early in the second half, a stretch of the game Ohio has recently struggled with. The Bobcats' deficiencies were on the defensive side of the floor, where the team gave up 24 points in the half's first seven and a half minutes.
Falling behind 62-47, Ohio increased its intensity to get back in the game. The Bobcats went on a 10-0 scoring run over the next two minutes, led by 3-point jumpers from Miles Brown and AJ Clayton, to get within five of the Falcons' lead.
A pair of poorly timed fouls and a 3-point jumper from Bowling Green center Jason Spurgin quickly extended Bowling Green's lead to eight. With just six minutes to go, Ohio surmounted yet another scoring run featuring strong defense and key baskets from Shereef Mitchell and Ajay Sheldon.
After both teams traded scores, Spurgin dealt another critical blow to Ohio with a made 3-point jumper to put the Falcons up four. Ohio turned the ball over on its next possession and, after fouling on defense, fell behind by five. Mitchell got the Bobcats within 3 with a made two-point jumper, but Spurgin made his fourth and final 3-pointer to all but end Ohio's hopes of winning its first road game of the season.
Spurgin finished the game with the most impactful 14 points ever. Spurgin made four out of five 3-point jumpers, including three in the game's final six minutes.
Even some dicey free throw shooting from Bowling Green couldn't give Ohio a real chance to win the game, as the team failed to convert a field goal attempt in the game's final minutes.
Ohio was led by guards Elmore James and Shereef Mitchell as scorers. James finished the game with 19 points on 6-11 shooting, while Mitchell had 17 points on 7-12 shooting. Ajay Sheldon continued his offensive hot streak over the last month with 10 points.
