Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball Roughed Up By George Washington
< < Back toThe Ohio Bobcats opened up the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamondhead Classic in unimpressive fashion Monday with a 77-49 loss to George Washington.
Ohio’s problems have been well documented so far, and they continued on Monday. The team has been inconsistent and has been unable to put it all together through the first seven games of the season. When one area of concern rounds into shape, another area of play begins to suffer.
The Bobcats played one of its better halves offensively, shooting 50 percent from the field and going 5 of 10 from deep in the first half.
Ohio’s offensive production came at the expense of the Bobcats’ defense. Ohio allowed George Washington to shoot 55 percent from the field. In addition to shooting nearly 60 percent in the first 20 minutes, the Colonials also ripped down seven offensive rebounds.
The Colonials shut out the Bobcats over the last three minutes of the first half, allowing them to head into halftime up 43-34. George Washington started the game on an 11-2 run, but Ohio closed the gap and got back within two on a Ryan Taylor 3-pointer that made it 18-16.
Ohio and George Washington traded blows for several possessions, and Ohio trailed 26-24 with 8:01 after a Bean Willis 3-pointer. As was the story of the first half, George Washington went on a 10-0 run that was capped off by a Patricio Gabrino dunk. Gabrino punctuated the run, but it was Kevin Larsen and Kethan Savage who kick-started it.
The two leading scorers for the game combined for eight points during the run. Larsen finished the game with 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Savage had 18 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Bobcats, just as they had done earlier in the half, clawed their way back into the game. This time it was Ryan Taylor leading the charge, as the freshman guard scored eight straight points to make it 38-34 with just over three minutes left.
Taylor, who was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 6, was Ohio’s only player in double-figures with 13 points. The next highest scorer for the ‘Cats was Willis with nine points.
The problems of the first half persisted in the second half. Unfortunately for Ohio, the solid shooting percentage did not carry over to the second half. Saul Phillips’ squad went 7 of 28 and only scored 15 points in the second half.
Unlike the Bobcats, the Colonials picked up right where they left off in the first half, outscoring Ohio 34-15 in the final 20 minutes. George Washington beat Ohio down the court for easy baskets several times in the second half, and the Colonials stayed aggressive on the boards by grabbing eight more offensive rebounds, giving them a total of 15 for the game.
Ohio’s ball movement problem reared its head once again against George Washington. Much like the second half against St. Bonaventure, Ohio stopped moving the ball and resorted to “hero ball”, playing one-on-one isolation basketball, and it was clear that the Bobcats struggled as a result.
The Bobcats, now losers of four of their last five, will look to regroup Tuesday when they take on either Colorado or DePaul.