Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball: Bobcats ride record-setting scoring run to rout Cleveland State
By: Bryan Kurp
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ATHENS, Ohio — 40 unanswered points. It never happened in NCAA Division I until Sunday at the Convocation Center.
It all started with under two minutes left in the first half. Ohio was up 46-25. Dwight Wilson III hit a pair of free throws. That was followed by a three-pointer by Lunden McDay at the buzzer. Ohio went to the half on a 5-0 scoring run.
Before long, that scoring run began to grow in the second half. Ohio was hitting shots while Cleveland State was hitting nothing.
Finally, with 8:03 remaining in the game, Chris Greene was fouled by Mark Sears and ended Cleveland State’s long scoring drought with a free throw.
At the end, it was a 40-0 scoring run for the Bobcats — the largest run of consecutive points against a Division I opponent in NCAA history.
“I think to go on a big run like that, there’s a lot of things that need to happen,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “When things like that happen, you don’t want to be frontrunners. When the going’s good you can’t be rah rah. You have to handle prosperity and understand why you got the stops you got.”
Ohio (3-1) eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time since December 2018 with a 101-46 drubbing of Cleveland State (0-2).
“I’m really proud of our guys for bringing the effort and energy level for 40 minutes,” Boals said.
Ohio was paced by Dwight Wilson III, who had a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Wilson was mainly a key contributor in the first half as he had 15 points and 11 rebounds heading into the locker room.
Lunden McDay also had himself a day, scoring a team-leading 20 points.
“When the first couple (three-pointers) went in, I just felt good,” McDay said. “The guys got into the flow of the game even better. You got (Jason Preston) who’s a great passer, so he’s always going to find us so just have to knock down the shots.”
In total, the Bobcats had five players in double figures. Preston had 12 points. Ben Vander Plas had 10 and, off the bench, Rifen Miguel had 10 points, seven of which came from the free-throw line.
Jeff Boals had the opportunity to put all 15 players on the roster in the game. The Bobcats’ bench scored 39 points.
“Those guys are all going to be very good,” Boals said. “It’s tough to play 15 guys and you want those guys to come in and ready to go for their opportunity.”
Ohio is back in action on Sunday when it makes the short trip down to Huntington to face off against the Marshall Thundering Herd. Tipoff for that game is set for 2 p.m.