Sports
Ohio Rebounds with Win Over Bryant
By: Mitchell Lyons
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In the first half, the Bryant Bulldogs tried to play zone on the Ohio Bobcats. It didn’t work.
Ohio used a barrage of threes in the first half to defeat Bryant 79-53.
The Bobcats made 10 first half 3-pointers on their way to 50 points and then cruised in the second half to pick up win number five.
In their last game, Ohio gave up a season high 98 points. On Saturday, they gave up the fewest points of the year.
“I thought one of the big keys tonight was we gave up 45 less points, that was important. That played a role in the game,” head coach Saul Phillips said.
The Bobcats started off passing well against the 2-3 zone of Bryant but failed to knock down shots. At the under 16 media time out, Ohio led 7-5, but was 3-11 from the field. But the misses didn’t last. Jaaron Simmons drilled a three off a pass from Jordan Dartis and Ohio led 14-10. Ohio got a steal and the two-switched roles and in transition, Simmons found Dartis for a triple, giving Ohio a seven point lead with 12:42 remaining.
A dunk by Adam Grant made it a three-point game, 19-16. But Ohio kept scoring. Ohio was in the midst of a stretch where they made 11 of 13 shots. During that stretch, Dartis hit four 3’s. Dartis hit his fourth 3-pointer with 4:51 remaining in the half, giving Ohio a 39-28 advantage. An 11-5 run to close the half by Ohio gave the Bobcats a 50-33 lead at the break. Ohio was 10-of-21 from behind the arc in the first half.
“It’s just the looks we were getting,” Campbell said. “Like (Jason) Arkley said they were playing a 2-3 zone we did a good job of not shooting the first open shot.”
The second half was not as pretty as the first half. The two teams combined to go 4-21 from beyond the arc and 18-68 from the field. Ohio only scored 29 points, but they held Bryant to just 20.
“We had been scoring 77, 78 points a game and we offensively just didn’t have it today,” Bryant head coach Tim O’Shea said. “We got to a point, even layups, riming out, riming out riming out. You gotta make those shots whether you’re at home or on the road. You gotta score the ball.”
Doug Taylor played his best game of the year and arguably the best game of his career. Taylor scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, including four offensive boards.
“He played like a man today. Played like a man. Capital M, capital A, capital N,” Campbell said.
Campbell led the charge with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan Dartis hit six 3-pointers on his way to 20 points. Jaaron Simmons had nine points and nine assists. Nisre Zouzoua had 16 points and six rebounds for Bryant. Adam Grant was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 12.
Ohio will take the week off before heading to New Rochelle to take on Iona on Dec. 10. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.