Western Michigan at No. 14 Michigan State
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Bobcats (8-5) wrapped up non-conference play, falling to Campbell (9-3), 63-55, Sunday afternoon (Dec. 29) inside the Convocation Center.
"We knew coming in that it was going to be a grind out, low possession kind of game," first-year head coach Jeff Boals said. "When you play a low possession game, you have to make shots. If you don't make shots then you have to get offensive rebounds and try to find a way to score. We talked about the turnovers. We only had 13, but when you play a low possession game, that's a lot. I thought our defense was good. We just didn't make shots. I thought we got some good looks, especially in the first half."
Leading the way was sophomore guard Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) who finished the game with 19 points, going 4-of-10 from the field, 1-of-4 from three-point range and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Preston also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.
Redshirt sophomore forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) finished with 16 points, going 6-of-13 from the field, while grabbing seven rebounds. Redshirt freshman forward Mason McMurray (Stow, Ohio) finished with seven points and five rebounds, while graduate transfer forward Sylvester Ogbonda (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) finished with nine rebounds.
Overall, Ohio shot 36.5 percent from the field, 20.0 percent from three-point range and 65.0 percent from the free throw line, while Campbell shot 42.3 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from three-point range and 81.3 percent from the free throw line. Ohio out rebounded Campbell, 36-35, while Campbell scored 22 points off of 13 Ohio turnovers, while Ohio scored seven points off of 12 Camel turnovers.
For Campbell, Cedric Henderson scored 17 points, while Trey Spencer added 12 points and five rebounds. Cory Gensler and LaDarius Knight both added 10 points for the Camels.
The Bobcats opened the game with the first points off of a layup from Preston. Campbell tied the game at two, before Preston hit a free throw. After the Camels hit a three to take a two-point lead, Vander Plas drained a three of his own to put Ohio up 6-5 lead. Campbell then went on a 7-0 run to give the Camels a 12-6 lead before two free throws from Preston cut the lead back to four going into the media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Ogbonda cut the lead to 12-10 with a layup, however, Campbell went on a 10-0 run to take a 20-12 lead going into the under-eight media timeout.
Out of the timeout, a dunk from Vander Plas brought the score within six, however, Campbell went on to take a nine-point lead with 4:38 left in the half. However, a free throw from Vander Plas and back-to-back three pointers from McMurray and redshirt freshman forward Nate Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) brought the game to 24-22 in favor of the Camels with 2:39 left in the half.
Out of the final media timeout, the Bobcats tied the game at 24-24 with a layup from Preston, however, Campbell hit a three at the buzzer to take a 27-24 lead going into the half.
At the half, Ohio shoot 33 percent from the field, 33 percent from three-point range and 64 percent from the free throw line, while Campbell shot 33 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range and 83 percent from the free throw line. Both teams recorded 18 rebounds, while Campbell dished out six assists to Ohio's five, while also recording five steals to the Bobcats' two. Campbell also forced seven Bobcat turnovers and scored 12 points off of them, while Ohio scored five points off of six Camel turnovers.
Leading the was at the half was Preston with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Vander Plas added six points, with McMurray and Springs both adding three points.
Ogbonda opened the half with a layup to cut the Campbell lead to one, a layup from Vander Plas gave the Bobcats the lead, however Campbell responded with a layup of their own to take a 29-28 lead. Vander Plas registered another layup moments later, giving Ohio a 30-29 lead going into the first media timeout of the half.
Out of the timeout, Campbell retook the lead, however a layup from Springs put the Bobcats back-up one. After Campbell went on to take a one-point lead, a three from Preston gave the Bobcats a two-point lead before the Camels tied the game at 35-35 going into the next media timeout.
Ohio and Campbell traded baskets out of the timeout, including back-to-back layups from McMurray. Campbell went on to take a three-point lead, but a second chance layup from Vander Plas with 6:16 left brought the Bobcats within one going into the under-eight timeout.
Out of the timeout, back-to-back layups from Preston and Vander Plas gave the Bobcats a three-point lead with 4:57 left. Campbell went on a 9-2 run to give the Camels a 55-51 lead with 1:48 left in the game. Ultimately, Ohio was unable to mount a comeback, falling to the Camels, 63-55.
Up next, Ohio heads to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Saturday, Jan. 4 to take on Western Michigan for the start of Mid-American Conference play. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – To close out the 2019 non-conference schedule the Western Michigan Broncos challenged one of the best teams in the nation on Sunday, falling to No. 14 Michigan State 95-62 inside the Breslin Center.
The loss snapped WMU’s three-game winning streak as the Broncos end non-conference play with an overall record of 7-6. The Brown & Gold will begin Mid-American Conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 4 against Ohio. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m.
Offensively WMU was led by the backcourt duo of junior Michael Flowers and freshman B. Artis White with 12 points each. White was 5-of-11 from the field with four rebounds to go along with a career-high six assists. White notched his fifth double-digit performance of the season and first since having 13 against Youngstown State.
Flowers continued his double digit point streak on Sunday night with 12 points and has now scored in double figures in 16 straight games dating back to last season. Flowers was 5-of-12 from the field to go along with five assists. The Southfield, Mich., native is averaging 3.8 assists over the past five games.
Freshman Titus Wright for the fourth time this season matched his career-high with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. Off the bench, sophomore Patrick Emilien led the way with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in six minutes of action.
Leading the way for the Broncos on the glass was redshirt junior Brandon Johnson with five rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass. Johnson also had four points and two assists in 25 minutes. Overall, 10 of the 13 players that saw the court scored for the Brown & Gold against Michigan State.
As a team WMU shot 41.9 percent from the field to go along with seven three-pointers. The Spartans dominated the glass, outrebounding the Broncos 46-24 and held a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass. Western Michigan got another solid performance from the bench, scoring 20 points off the bench for the eighth time this season.
WMU ends non-conference play with an overall record of 7-6 and will host Ohio in its conference opener on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 4:00 p.m. inside University Arena.
The Broncos got off to a fast start against the nationally ranked Spartans as Flowers scored the first five points for WMU en route to a 5-5 tie at the 16:40 mark of the first half. A three-pointer from senior Jared Printy along with a lay-up from freshman Chase Barrs highlighted six straight field goals made to give WMU a 14-8 lead with 14:20 remaining.
However out of the media timeout the Spartans flexed their offensive muscle, embarking on a 25-0 run to take 33-14 lead. Ultimately Michigan State went on a 28-4 run and held a 36-18 advantage with five minutes to go in the first half. Down the stretch the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to close out the half and take a 48-24 lead into the locker room.
Redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens got the second half scoring going for the Broncos after an offensive rebound led to an easy lay-up. After the lay-up from Whitens, WMU went scoreless the next four minutes of play as MSU widened its lead to 30 at 57-27.
Midway through the second half the Spartans continued to extend their lead, embarking on a 13-0 run to grab a 74-31 advantage with 10 minutes to play. Late in the second half both offenses came to life as the two teams combined to go 8-for-10 from the field during a three-minute stretch. The hot shooting was highlighted by four straight points from sophomore Adrian Martin along with five straight points from Emilien.
To end the game, WMU made eight of its final 11 field goals as No. 14 Michigan State cruised to a 95-62 victory.