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Ohio Survives Milwaukee After Uneven Second Half

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Ohio didn’t falter despite an inconsistent outing Wednesday night as they outlasted Milwaukee 71-69 to pick up their sixth win of the season.

Coming off a narrow loss to Iona Saturday and what Tony Campbell called a “terrible” practice on Monday, the ‘Cats began Wednesday’s contest red hot. In the game’s first five and a half minutes, Ohio shot 75 percent from the floor and was perfect from 3-point land. Campbell scored seven of the team’s 15 during that period.

The Panthers trailed until the 6:30 mark in the first half by as many as nine points. A flurry of forced turnovers and buckets on the other end kept them within reach, and Milwaukee used a 19-7 run to take a slight lead close to the half’s end.

Fortunate for them too was a nearly three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought from Ohio, broken by a Campbell dish to Gavin Block amidst a double team to take back the lead. The Bobcats led by just one at halftime.

The second half saw much of the same action: small runs by each team and stretches of poor shooting. Ohio hit only one of its six 3-point attempts in the second half, and in the final eight minutes, Milwaukee converted just two field goals.

The only difference between the two halves seems to be the number of fouls. After shooting a single free throw in the opening half, the Bobcats had 18 attempts in the latter half as the Panthers racked up 17 fouls. Campbell’s night ended a tad early when he fouled out with close to three minutes to go, and two Panthers also hit the pine early with five fouls.

Cody Wichmann led the Panthers with 15 points, 12 of which came in the opening frame. He hit four 3-pointers to pace Milwaukee, and canned his team’s only long ball of the second half as time expired to put his team within two on the final scoreboard. August Haas and Bryce Barnes also finished in double digits for the Panthers with 11 points apiece. Haas scored his club’s first six points.

The three joined the likes of four other guards employed by Milwaukee in the game. Running a 2-3 zone defensively, it could get away with four guard sets against a bigger Ohio squad, and seven of the 10 Panthers who entered the game were primarily backcourt players.

Ohio struggled against that zone, and it resulted in a streaky performance offensively. The ‘Cats went on multiple scoring droughts lasting upwards of two minutes, and runs they did put together were cut short by turnovers or missed chances. Milwaukee forced 13 Bobcat turnovers and turned them into 15 points, and despite some good looks, Ohio couldn’t capitalize on major opportunities to put this one out of reach.

Twice, Campbell got at least one offensive rebound on a possession and failed to score a second-chance bucket, even picking up an over-the-back call for his fourth foul on one occasion. Kenny Kaminski and Jaaron Simmons each missed layups, Kaminski’s the easier of the two, later in the second half. When given chances to pull away, Ohio failed to convert, and a narrow win over an inferior team was the outcome.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Green and White. Despite fouling out, Campbell notched another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. When the big man was forced to sit due to foul trouble, Simmons took charge, driving to the cup for good looks and getting to the foul line. That seemed to be a necessary spark for the ‘Cats as they scored 10 of their second half points at the charity stripe.

Simmons finished the night one assist shy of a double-double himself, also recording 14 points. Kaminski and Jordan Dartis each score nine points in the contest, all on 3-balls and all in the first half.

Even though the performance wasn’t perfect, Ohio gutted out a winning effort with its leader on the bench for the game’s final three minutes. It gets another shot at a Horizon League opponent when the invading Cleveland State Vikings visit the Convo on Saturday. It will be the ‘Cats’ final home game before the Christmas break. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.