Ohio (4-6 overall) knocked off 10-1 St. Bonaventure in the Cleveland Hoops Showdown in Rocket Arena in overtime. It was a back-and-forth bout all night for the Bobcats and Bonnies, and Ohio came out on top after a spectacular performance from Jackson Paveletzke.
The Kimberly, Wisconsin, native had a slow first half, but was unconscious in the second half and overtime, coming up clutch time after time and finishing with 25 points.
“Proud of our guys for finding a way to win,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “They could have easily folded through adversity, and they stayed together.”
Both teams came out of the gate slow. St. Bonaventure drew first blood with a turnaround jumper from Jose Grahovac, but offensive fouls slowed down the attacks of both squads early.
Ajay Sheldon started the scoring for Ohio with his third three-point attempt of a wild possession that saw Ohio grab a couple of offensive boards, and from there, the scoring turned on for the Bobcats.
Forwards Aidan Hadaway and Kiir Kuany both knocked down threes to take a slight lead, and the shooting didn’t stop from there. Ohio got red-hot from deep to keep its lead, combined with very solid defense on the other end.
The defensive energy Ohio played with was on full display, and it helped to force six early turnovers from the Bonnies.
That defensive energy was also huge in slowing down St. Bonaventure’s best player, big man Frank Mitchell. Whether it was Javan Simmons or Jalen Breath guarding Mitchell, the defense was active and aggressive, denying passing lanes for Mitchell to get good looks.
Ohio’s shot kept falling, but Mitchell weaved his way around Ohio’s defense and get his looks, as he finished with a huge number of 27 on 12-20 shooting from the floor.
“We had a big emphasis on (Mitchell),” Simmons said. “He ran the floor hard. We also wanted to contain their guards, so we had a big emphasis on them, and we just wanted to make sure that we (were) connected on defense.”
The Bonnies cut the lead to two at the half, but Ohio still went into the locker room shooting over 50% from the floor while forcing eight turnovers in the first half. The momentum from the big win over Marshall had clearly carried over, giving Ohio the edge over a very quality opponent at the break.
The second half started slow for the Bobcats, however, as the Bonnies rocketed out to a lightning-fast 7-0 run to start the second frame of action, and Boals was quick to call a timeout to readjust.
That timeout helped Ohio’s offense immensely, as Simmons and Hadaway got huge buckets down low to tie the game back up early in the second half.
The forward duo each had big halves, and with about 14 minutes left in the second, Hadaway had his biggest play of the game, getting a steal in defense that allowed him to go coast-to-coast for a huge poster on Mitchell.
Hadaway finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, providing energy and effort for Ohio all night on both ends of the floor.
“(The dunk) was a big momentum play for us,” Boals said. “I think defensively, (he) got some deflections, pressured the ball and got seven big rebounds.”
Both teams traded buckets for the majority of the half. Neither team was able to pull away and take a double-digit lead.
With about six minutes to go in the second half, Paveletzke took over. He started off by nailing a step back three at the end of the shot clock, and then hitting a tough mid-range jumper to take a six-point lead.
When the Bonnies fought back, Paveletzke was there again with another long three and a turnaround mid-range jumper. His heave to win the game at the buzzer was no good, meaning there was overtime after St. Bonaventure’s Dasonte Bowen’s second free throw rimmed out, leaving the game tied at 70 at the buzzer.
Paveletzke was huge in overtime as well, drilling a fallaway mid-range that he made despite the contact, converting the and-one with the free throw.
After some clutch buckets from Simmons and more free throws from Paveletzke, Ohio was on its way to pulling off the huge win in Cleveland on the back of Paveletzke’s clutch closing minutes.
“Honestly, I was just kind of in a flow state out there,” Paveletzke said. “Not thinking too much. Obviously, I kind of had a slow start, but just remaining confident through all the ups and downs throughout the game, not letting some of the turnovers and the missed calls affect what I was doing on offense.”
The win marks Ohio’s third straight after the 1-6 start, and with buy games in Ohio Wesleyan and Miami-Hamilton coming up soon, the Bobcats will look to get back to .500 with a conference opener against Bowling Green in the middle of the last two non-conference games.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Boals said. “Like I said, this is great momentum for us, but we have to have that same humility and mentality every single day.”
