With fewer than 30 seconds remaining in Saturday's game against Miami, Leon Williams caught the ball just beyond the green Ohio logo at half court, and for a moment the forward hesitated.
I was going to just hold the ball and let the time run out
Williams said. Then I saw nobody was in front of me so I was like 'Why not?'
Williams drove toward the defenseless basket for a two-handed slam that punctuated the Bobcats' 72-63 win over the RedHawks, a game in which Ohio could do little wrong.
Led by marquee forwards Williams and Jerome Tillman, who combined for 37 points and 15 rebounds, the Bobcats snagged their first Mid-American Conference victory in dominant fashion by imposing a faster tempo on the lumbering RedHawks.
The win helps the Bobcats (10-5, 1-1 MAC) avoid their first 0-2 conference start in three seasons while giving Miami coach Charlie Coles his first two-loss start to MAC play in his 11 seasons as head coach of the RedHawks (6-8).
After allowing Miami a head start on the scoreboard, the Bobcats worked methodically and claimed what would be a permanent lead less than five minutes into the game.
Ohio rattled off a 10-0 run, which included Bubba Walther connecting with forward DeVaughn Washington for an alley-oop, to push ahead of Miami 12-7 and show that the Bobcats didn't intend to fall flat in their second conference game of the year.
I think there was more pressure on us today to win coach Tim O'Shea said. To some degree staying in contention for the East title we almost had to win today.
If you lose (Saturday) and you've got a loss to Bowling Green
the only way you make that up is going back to Miami and win there
which puts a lot of pressure on everybody.
The pressure the Bobcats felt wasn't just to win, but to solve some of the ball control and lack-of-sharing problems that plagued them a week before.
We've been focusing on spacing and getting everybody a touch and be more fluid instead of just a lot of one-on-one
Tillman said of the Bobcats' emphasis on sharing the ball, which led to 15 assists and nine different players contributing points.
We were really sharing the basketball
a noticeably pleased O'Shea said. We were scoring off the pass as opposed to guys putting it down and driving a seam that wasn't there.
Ohio also took better care of the ball against Miami, turning the ball over just seven times ' as opposed to their average of 14.5 and considerably fewer than the 20 they gave up to Bowling Green.
By limiting their own mistakes and using a constant double-team on RedHawks star forward Tim Pollitz, Ohio left the Miami offense struggling to find any consistency until the game was already tilted in the Bobcats favor in the second half.
And while the Bobcats were confident in their improved play and ability to force a faster-paced game on the RedHawks, it didn't hurt to get a sign that everything would work out the way Ohio planned.Forward Kenneth van Kempen was all alone on the top of the arc when he caught the ball about five minutes in to the second half, and attempted his first 3-pointer of the season.
Hardly known for his 3-point shooting, van Kempen ' who was 6-of-17 beyond the arc last season ' made the shot, bringing a strange excitement to the Ohio bench and the rest of the 9,026 in The Convo.
I said in the locker room ... 'Kenneth
when you make a 3
O'Shea said, I guess we're destined to win.'
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