 CLEVELAND – Michael Allen’s layup with 1:03 remaining gave the Ohio Bobcats a 62-55 win over the Western Michigan Broncos in a first round game of the 2009 MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.
The win moved Ohio (15-16) into the quarterfinals on Thursday evening against the top ranked and MAC Eastern Division Champion Bowling Green Falcons.
“I told the guys going into the game..its hard to win in a conference tournament if you try and make it pretty. They grinded it out and really competed well” Ohio Head Coach John Groce said after the game.
Ohio had four players in double figures led by Jerome Tillman who had 14 points and four rebounds even though he was saddled with two fouls early in the first half.
David Kool led Western Michigan (10-21) with just 10 points, the lone Bronco in double figures.
“He is a terrific player. Very difficult to defend because he moves without the basketball well” Groce remarked.
“Justin Orr defended Kool the majority of the game and had eight rebounds.”
Allen, DeVaugh Washington, and Steven Coleman each added 12.
The Broncos opened the game with an early six-point lead 13-7 at the 12:04 mark on a three-pointer by Demetrius Ward.
The Cats then ran off seven unanswered points to take their first lead of the game 14-13 at the 8:11 mark on a three by Tillman.
After the game was tied at 16-16 on a Donald Lawson free throw, the Cats opened their largest lead of the half five points on two occasions, the last being 23-18 at the 2:52 mark two Justin Orr free throws and went into halftime with a 25-21 lead.
At the start of the second half, Ohio opened their largest lead of the game 31-21 a with 16:36 remaining on a Tillman layup.
The Broncos then scored eight straight points to close the deficit to two 31-29 with 16:02 remainining on a Shawntes Gary tip-in.
Ohio pushed the lead out to six on three occasions the last being 40-34 at the 11:46 mark on a three by Tillman.
After the Bobcats opened a seven-point advantage 52-45 at the 5:20 mark on two Tillman free throws,
WMU went on a 10-2 run to take their first lead since the 6:41 mark in the first half (55-54) with 2:29 remaining on a jumper by Flenard Whitfield.
It would be Western’s final lead of the game.
Allen’s layup started an 8-0 run to end the game for t he Cats who avengeda loss to the Broncos back on February 11th at University Arena in Kalamazoo.
“It was a very hard fought game...We won most of the statistical categories except for the free throws…We outrebounded them but we lost by 13 at the free throw line and that was the difference today,” Broncos head Coach Steve Hawkins lamented.
Ohio faces the Falcons for the third time this season and the second time in the last five days. Bowling Green defeated the Cats 75-41 at Anderson Arena on Sunday to take the MAC Eastern Division title and the top seed in the Tournament.
NOTES: Ohio is 5-1 lifetime against Western Michigan in MAC Tournament play…159th lifetime meeting with Ohio leading 60-59 with the victory…Jerome Tillman-OHIO 14 points moved his career total to 1,620 points ninth on the all-time list just five points behind eighth place Walter Luckett (1,625 1972-75)…Tillman has scored in double figures in all 31 games this season and 36 straight dating back to last season.,..Ohio head coach John Groce won his first MAC Tournament game and is 1-1 lifetime against WMU head coach Steve Hawkins…David Kool-WMU has double points in 19 of Western’s 21 games this season…Western is 14-15 lifetime in MAC Tournament games..6-6 lifetime tournament games in Cleveland. |
