Sports
Dartis’ Sharpshooting Leads Ohio Past Eastern Michigan
By: Zach Kautz
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The Ohio Bobcats (9-9, 2-4) got their first road win of the season against Eastern Michigan (11-8, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon beating the Eagles 72-66. Junior guard Jordan Dartis played a big part, scoring 24 points, including 7 three-pointers.
Ohio came into this game on a three-game slide in Mid-American Conference play, losing 4 of their last 5 games overall. The Bobcats desperately needed a road win to keep pace with the rest of the division and, to be ready for their next two games against Akron and Buffalo, Buffalo being the best team in the conference, sporting a 14-5 record.
The Bobcats started off very slow in the first half, bad passing, and sloppy offensive play in the first 10 minutes of the game let EMU get an early lead and set up their press to harass the Bobcats and frustrate them for the rest of the half. EMU utilized a full-court press against the Bobcats and fell into a matchup 3-2 zone that really gave Ohio problems.
EMU eventually extended their lead to 16-8, but not until Ohio put together a 12-1 run getting stops and pushing the ball in transition to get the lead back and lead EMU 20-17. The Eagles ended the first half on a nice run of their own and took a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
The second half was a completely different story as Ohio came out red-hot from downtown and led by Dartis’ 24 points on the night, the Bobcats looked much more comfortable against the zone. the junior tied a career high in three-pointers shooting 7-of-10 from deep along with two steals and two assists. Mike Laster and Teyvion Kirk chipped in with 16 and 14 points of their own to help the Bobcats double their entire point total in the second half. Also, Block had an impressive day passing the ball, finishing the game with eight assists.
With 15:05 remaining in the second half, the Bobcats took a 43-42 lead and never looked back from there. They eventually pushed their lead to the biggest of the game with about 3 minutes to play, leading 69-58 and were able to close out the game and secure their first road win of the season.