Sports

Ohio Men’s Basketball’s comeback effort falls short, moves to 2-6 on the road this season
By: Marc Goldstein
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (WOUB) — Playing on the road is difficult in college basketball. So is playing without three starters. Ohio (10-8, 4-2 MAC) nearly pulled off one of the most improbable wins in recent memory without three of its top five leading scorers. Despite the loss to Eastern Michigan (9-9, 3-3 MAC), 94-87, there are still positives to take away from the defeat. Regardless, as the team travels back to Athens to kick off arguably its biggest stretch of the season, questions swirl over the team’s health.
From the start, Eastern Michigan got whatever it wanted inside. The weakness for Ohio all season has been physicality and rebounding. Ohio jumped out to its only lead of the game when AJ Brown knocked down a triple, making it 5-2. From there, it was a struggle, especially defensively. Eastern Michigan’s leading scorer, Da’Sean Nelson proved to be a load both inside and out, getting five quick points in the opening minutes. The spark would be his three to give Eastern Michigan a 10-7 lead.
The Bobcats, at least for the first couple of minutes of the game, were able to keep pace with the Eagles offensively. Although unable to get many stops, the Bobcats were able to keep the score within two possessions for the majority of the time leading up to the under-12 timeout. Freshman Elijah Elliott nailed a jumper to make it 18-16, Eagles, but that would prove to be the closest the Bobcats would get to tying or taking the lead.
Over the next six minutes, Eastern Michigan would go on an 18-8 run to push its advantage to 12 points. During that stretch, Arne Osoljnik hit a pair of threes while Nelson and Jalen Terry added four points apiece. Simply put, there was no answer defensively for Ohio for the final 12 minutes of the first half.
Try as they might, the Bobcats would go cold for the next four-and-a-half minutes, missing their next five field goals as the Eagles would go up 48-35 after Jackson Paveletzke finally hit a field goal for the Bobcats. At halftime, the score stood at 50-35, far from ideal on the road, but somewhat manageable.
It appeared unlikely that Eastern Michigan would continue to shoot 60.6% from the field including 63.6% from deep. However, the fact of the matter was that the rebounding and defense for Ohio was the main culprit. Missing shots are expected, but defensive lapses are preventable. In the first half alone, Osojnik, who averages 7.6 points on the season, was up to 14.
The comeback attempt would become even steeper as AJ Clayton, who checked out with 8:51 to go in the first half, did not return to the game in the second half. He joined Elmore James IV and Aidan Hadaway as the two other starters not playing in the game.
Ohio showed some fight to start the second half, cutting the deficit to 54-42 after Elliott hit just his second triple of the season. From there, Eastern Michigan went on an 8-2 spurt that saw the lead balloon up to 21 points.
The scoring attack in the second half for the Eagles was rather balanced as Terry, Nelson, and Christian Henry combined for 29 points in the second.
Hope looking bleak, Ohio could only do so much to get the lead for Eastern Michigan down as the half progressed. Ohio would start getting some offensive cohesion, but the defense was not in sync for it, allowing Eastern Michigan to maintain a large advantage.
The score was 77-62 with just under eight minutes to play in Ypsilanti. It appeared that any stats recorded in the final minutes of the game would do nothing besides look good in the record book as the game was all but decided. However, the Bobcats did not quit. Immediately, head coach Jeff Boals switched to a full-court press that confused the Eagles and forced them to use more of the shot clock, shortening each possession.
Ohio slowly, but surely, was making a comeback attempt. The 15-point deficit became a 13-point deficit. Then, it became 12 and then 10 after Vic Searls threw down a thunderous jam to cut the score to 80-70.
The score was, miraculously, 88-83 with 50 seconds to go in regulation. Somehow, the Bobcats found themselves in a highly-contested game. As amazing as the fairytale ending would have been with the once-struggling team making a once-in-a-lifetime comeback to shock its opponent, it simply was not in the cards. The Eagles iced the game at the foul line and got the victory, 94-87.
All things considered, the thing that Ohio does so well was ultimately the aspect that kept it from completing this comeback. Ohio has thrived from behind the arc this season, shooting 35.6% as a team entering the game. In the second half against Eastern Michigan, it went 2/11. Without Clayton, there was far less floor spacing and opportunities to hoist from deep.
The loss by Ohio is deflating as it embarked on a two-game road trip undefeated in conference play and returned home on a two-game losing streak. However, if the injuries by the trio of starters, Clayton, Brown, and Hadaway, are not serious and only temporary, there should be optimism that the grit and determination shown down the stretch by the entire roster can translate into the next three games, which are the toughest stretch in conference play.