Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball picks up seventh straight victory
By: Bryan Kurp
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Ohio men’s basketball team kept its undefeated home record alive Friday with an 80-72 victory over MAC rival Kent State. The win gives the Bobcats (12-0, 3-0 MAC) their seventh victory in a row.
“I thought our guys got off to a great start and maintained the lead throughout the whole course of the game,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “We’ve let teams back into it. We bend but don’t break. We made some big plays down the stretch, and you know, Mark Sears was phenomenal again and BVP’s threes carried us in the first half.”
Ben Vander Plas hit five three-pointers in the first half to lead the Bobcats to a commanding 41-26 lead at the break. Vander Plas had been struggling shooting the ball as of late, including suffering a minor injury in Tuesday’s matchup against Akron, but came out on fire and showed no lingering effects.
“It’s been a rough couple of games, a little bit of a drought,” Vander Plas said. “I just stayed in the gym and kept shooting. Everyone’s been telling me to shoot. It’s a confidence thing and, yeah, they were falling tonight so it felt good seeing some go through the hoop.”
Kent State rallied in the second half to bring the score within a single possession with four minutes left, but Ohio held on to secure the win.
Mark Sears led the way for the Bobcats with 28 points. Vander Plas followed with 20 points. Ben Roderick and Jason Carter also reached double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Ohio is next in action Tuesday as it welcomes in Bowling Green. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from inside The Convo.