Leon Williams said it wasn't planned. It was one of those spur of the moment, live in the now decisions that come straight from the gut.
After shaking hands with a defeated flock of RedHawks, Williams, along with a number of his teammates, went straight to the O Zone and had a dance party. Well, it wasn't really dancing, more like a Kris Kross video: lots of jumping without a lot of rhythm.
Most hovered around the front, but Justin Orr made it all the way to the top, showing some love to those who might have showed up fashionably late to watch the Bobcats thoroughly control Miami in a 72-63 victory that coach Tim O'Shea admitted afterward Ohio had to have.
Any time you get a showing like that
Williams said, you got to let them know how much we appreciate that.
The win pushed Ohio's home record since the 2004-05 season to 41-5. That's not a typo. Since Roderick McDavis was sworn in as president, the Bobcats have won roughly nine out of 10 times when they take to The Convo floor.
Afterward, I asked O'Shea about what exactly is the deal with his team when they play in Athens. Is it the water? The hilly countryside?
You go to every team in the league they have the same numbers he said. That's just the way it is. Some of them are higher than ours.
Wait, what? I mean, come on. Better than 41-5?! No way.
I seriously doubted that, so I crunched a few numbers. Coach did his homework.
Since the 2004-05 season, every team in the MAC East division is at least seven games over .500 at home. Akron has lost just one home game in the last three seasons, going 48-4. Miami's lost just six in the same time span. Even up-and-down Buffalo has mustered up some consistent home cookin', going 37-12. As we stand now this season, four of six teams in the East, including the Bobcats, are undefeated at home.
O'Shea 1, Gribble 0.
I'll accept the defeat. Chalk it up to lack of preparation and move on. But I won't back down from this: The Bobcats are a special team when they play in Athens.
Never was that more apparent than Saturday.
The 9,026 fans had a blast taking in the first of three consecutive Saturday home games this quarter. More importantly, though, the Bobcats did, too.
Bubba Walther had a big mass of green-and-white clad O Zonians to scream with every time he wanted to pound his chest. Jerome Tillman had someone to go to when Ohio's easy win looked like it was slipping away after the RedHawks hit back-to-back 3's to draw within five late in the action. All it took was a dip of the head, a look to an untimely reserved student section that screamed Come on
guys
and a couple arm lifts before the building started to shake once again.
Five seconds later, Williams provided his biggest dunk of the season, slamming the door on Miami's comeback ambitions.
Thirty seconds later, Williams and the rest of the Bobcats were dancing with the other team that brought it's A game Saturday.
Only one knucklehead tried to ruin the fans' best effort in my time here. An unknown OU student approached Miami's class-act coach Charlie Coles with a tie and told him to wear this next time you come here.
Contradictory, in regards to the stereotypes slung in the Battle of the Bricks rivalry, it was on so many levels. Coles was a great sport about it, though, only wondering how serious the kid was about his sad attempt at humor, which landed him a ban from The Convo until July 1.
Coles knew that he and his team, who has won just once in its last five tries in The Convo, had much bigger concerns.
I'm lucky
Coles said, that the building didn't fall in on me.
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