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[Andrew Bowlby | WOUB]

Ohio Men’s Basketball falls to 1-4 after three-point loss to Bethune-Cookman

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio Men’s Basketball (1-4) continued its tough non-conference schedule Wednesday night, facing Bethune-Cookman (2-3) for a Sunshine Slam Campus Game. Ohio continued its losing ways and extended its losing streak to three games, falling 76-73. 

The Bobcats came out with low energy early on, falling behind 24-12 and allowing a 15-2 run from the Wildcats. That put Ohio in an early hole that it took until the second half to climb out of, when the Bobcats finally took the lead back at 49-48 just before the under-12 media timeout. 

The game stayed within a couple of possessions for the rest of the game, and it was another one in which Ohio fell apart down the stretch.  Jackson Paveletzke led the team in points with 30, but he never got a look drawn up for him in the final two minutes. 

Ohio Men's Basketball guard Jackson Paveletzke getting celebrated after making a shot and drawing a foul.
Ohio Men’s Basketball guard Jackson Paveletzke getting celebrated after making a shot and drawing a foul. [Conor Mallonn | WOUB Public Media]
With a 1-4 mark already, it’s easy to point fingers and blame others for the poor start. However, head coach Jeff Boals is taking full responsibility for the slow start and knows it has to turn around. 

“It’s easy to point fingers and blame other people. No blame should be on anybody but me. We’re going to be a good team. I like our group; we just haven’t figured it out yet. That was a good team that beat us, but we’re disappointed in the result,” he said.

The main issue with the team’s performance so far has been the lack of defense. Ohio has allowed its opponent to shoot higher than 40% from three in the past three games, which is a mark that the Bobcats will lose a lot of games if the trend continues. 

“It starts with transition defense, we’re getting killed in transition,” Paveletzke said. “We have plays down the stretch where there’s a lack of communication… we just got to watch film, clean it up, and continue going forward.” 

“It’s not good enough,” Javan Simmons said. “The defense will get back to the drawing board.” 

While Ohio continuously gets good looks from beyond the arc, the Bobcats have continued to shoot poorly. After shooting 2-17 from three, Boals acknowledged it’s not good enough. 

“We’ve been like it all year, I think we’re probably now we’re shooting low 20s from three. You have to stay confident. You’ve got to watch the film to see why we’re missing them. Because when you go 2-17, you’re leaving a lot of points off the board.” 

Ohio plays in the Sunshine Slam semifinals Monday night against 5-0 George Mason, which is yet another tall task in the non-conference schedule.