Eastern Michigan's John Bowler might have had the better night against Ohio's Leon Williams, but Williams took the victory as his team defeated the Eagles 75-63 on their home court.
The match up between Williams and Bowler lived up to what was expected out of the top two big men in the Mid-American Conference. Williams dropped in 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bobcats (9-2, 3-0 MAC) compared to Bowler's 16 and 11.
I thought I did pretty well against him
he is great player Williams said. I give him a lot of respect but I think we showed a lot about our team. We can adapt to any situation or player and execute our game plan.
Coach Tim O'Shea said he was looking forward to the meeting of the two and was proud of the outcome.
Leon's play was solid
it was a match up between the two best big men in the MAC and I think we have the best one
O'Shea said. Bowler is a good player
but he isn't Leon. Leon was immense on the backboards and he played very well offensively.
With the two big men's performances basically negating each others, the game was decided by the Bobcats supporting cast which included a season-high 19 points from forward Sonny Troutman. He poured in 14 of them in the first half when Ohio got off to a quick start.
Guard Mychal Green was the third player for the Bobcats to reach double digits in the scoring column with 11.
We wanted to come out really aggressive because they didn't have many fans
Green said. We wanted to get our own energy and we did that by taking them out of their game early.
The Bobcats wasted no time as they started the game on a 20-5 run off baskets from each starter. The Eagles (3-8, 0-3) climbed back within eight points before the 'Cats stretched the lead to 45-31 heading into the break by scoring six points in the last minute of the half.
The 45 points was the most scored in a half by the Bobcats' this season and was fueled by 45 percent shooting from the field. Ohio was able to extend its lead up to 20 points in the second half by a Williams' bucket that brought the score to 72-52.
I came out and did whatever the team needed me to and so did the rest of them
Green said. Sonny played well; he was able to get going and had some fun tonight. Overall the team played like we wanted to.
The Bobcats controlled the game by keeping the ball out of Bowler's hands - the MAC's leading scorer - and by double-teaming him when he did receive it. While he was able to get the ball out to his teammates the Bobcats defense kept the eagles from capitalizing.
I played him (Bowler) on the high side because I knew we'd have the weak side help to come over
Williams said. When he got the ball we trapped him and kept him from doing too much.
With the win, the Bobcats' are off to their best start since the 1985-1986 season and their MAC record of 3-0 is their best start since 2001-2002.
Ohio will return home to play Central Michigan at 2 p.m. this Saturday in The Convo.
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