January 9, 2011

Ohio Falls in a 3OT Thriller vs. Miami


How many times is this going to happen? For the 3rd time this season, Ohio played a hard fought game only to lose in overtime. This time, it just so happened to be against their main rival Miami(ohio).

Ohio got off to a slow start in the 1st half as they were down by as many as seven points only five minutes into the game. Miami tried to set the tone early and it was obvious by the way they played.

Ohio then fought their way back into the game. They came all the way back to take a seven point lead of there own with a little less then 3 minutes remaining in the 1st half.

But Ohio's lead wasn't meant to last. The Bobcats blew the lead right before the half ended and the game entered halftime tied at 33-33.

In the 2nd half, Miami got off to another fast start.

But just like in the 1st half when they blew the lead, Miami did the same thing in the 2nd half.

Miami blew an 8 point lead when D.J. Cooper hit a 3 pointer with 9:33 left in the 2nd half to tie the game at 54-54.

The game remained close as Miami took a 2 point lead off of a Julian Muvunga layup with 1:27 remaining.

With Ohio down 2, DJ Cooper got fouled by Antonio Ballard with 49 seconds remaining in the 2nd half. Cooper went on to make both free throws to tie the game at 65-65.

Miami had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but Mavunga missed his 3 point attempt and the game headed to overtime.

For Ohio, the overtime periods were mostly about survival.

They had a few leads overall in the overtime periods but trailed for the most part.

At the end of the 1st overtime, Cooper hit a 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining to tie the game at 73-73.

Then for Miami, Mavunga went on to miss another 3-point attempt to win the game and the game headed to a 2nd overtime.

In the 2nd overtime, no team had a lead greater than 3. Ivo Baltic made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:46 remaining to tie the game. No points were scored after that and the game went to yet another overtime period.

But as the saying goes "all good things must come to an end." The 3rd overtime was the final period of this great basketball game.

Miami got out to an early 2 point lead in the 3rd overtime off of a pair of free throws by Allen Roberts.

Miami then went on to put the throttle on Ohio as they scored 12 points in 3rd overtime and went on to win 92-88.

Ohio had a chance to tie the game with 3 seconds left but failed to gain possession of the rebound when Mavunga missed back to back free throws with 3 seconds remaining.

With Miami getting the ball back, Ohio was forced to foul. Miami made its next 2 free throws and sent Ohio to the loser's column for the 8th time this season.

D.J. Cooper put up good numbers for Ohio but did not have a good game. Cooper recorded a double-double with 27 points and 11 assists but only shot 7-22 from the field.

Tommy Freeman and Ivo Baltic both had decent games going for 17 and 16 points respectively.

For Miami, Antonio Ballard was a beast. Ballard had a monster game going for a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 8-12 from the field and played in all 55 minutes of the game.

Nick Winbush also had a good game for Miami. Winbush nearly had a double-double with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

The key to the game came down to rebounding. Miami out-rebounded Ohio 50-32 for the game and grabbed many crucial boards late in the game.

With the loss, Ohio falls to 7-8 (0-1) and next plays January 12th at Akron.


Attendance: 9,749
Ohio's Record: 7-8 (0-1)
Next Game: January 12th at Akron
Key Fact: Ohio was out-rebounded 50-32
Interesting Note: This was Ohio's 3rd overtime game of the season

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