For Bubba Walther, this one hurt a little more than the last.
The junior point guard helped the Bobcats battle back to force a road game into overtime for the second consecutive Sunday, only to come up short in the end.
“Last week’s loss was more like a moral victory,” Walther said after Ohio fell to Miami, 72-69, yesterday in Millet Hall. “This is a little different. We’re real upset.”
Last week, Kent State point guard Omni Smith snuffed Ohio’s comeback attempt when he made a running one-hander in the waning seconds of the Bobcats’ 67-65 loss in Kent. This time it was Miami guard Doug Penno who sent the Bobcats back to Athens still winless in Mid-American Conference road games.
Penno hit a 3-pointer to jumpstart Miami’s offense in the overtime session. His 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining made the score 71-67 and put the game out of reach.
Walther, who finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, made a quick shot at the other end to close the deficit to two points with 10 seconds remaining. After a Miami free throw made the score 72-69, point guard Sonny Troutman attempted a 3-pointer as time expired, but it was off the mark, capping another disheartening road loss.
“This is two games in a row where we went to overtime and had an opportunity on the last possession, but we couldn’t cash in,” coach Tim O’Shea said, “It’s definitely disappointing.”
Troutman and guard Whitney Davis led the Bobcats with 14 points apiece. Forwards Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams each picked up double-doubles, finishing with 13 and 12 points respectively while both grabbing 10 rebounds. It is the seventh time this season that all Ohio’s starters reached double figures in scoring.
Utilizing a zone defense for the majority of the game, the Bobcats allowed the RedHawks open looks from outside while trying to shut down Miami’s big men in the post. This strategy hurt the Bobcats at the beginning, as Miami used hot outside shooting to build a 12-point lead late in the first half.
Miami went cold in the second half, however, which allowed the Bobcats to close the gap before eventually tying the score.
Tillman credited a tougher Ohio defense that forced Miami to make only two of its 13 3-point attempts in the second half.
“We were stagnant at the defensive end in the first half,” Tillman said. “They got a lot of open looks in the first half, so we just locked it down on the defensive end in the second half.”
A Troutman 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game since early in the first half. Miami forward Tim Pollitz made a lay-in with less than a minute left to send the game into overtime, a place where, like the road, Ohio has been victorious only once this season.
“If you want to win this league, you have to win on the road,” O’Shea said. “We’ve got to get better.”
Reader Comments
Submit a comment to The Post