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Baker, Maric lead Huskies past Bobcats in MAC opener

Ohio plagued by foul trouble in 80-69 loss


DeKALB, Ill. – Travon Baker and Marin Maric combined for 47 points, and foul trouble added to Ohio’s struggles as it dropped its Mid-American Conference opener, 80-69, on Wednesday night at Northern Illinois’ Convocation Center.

Baker scored 25 points with four rebounds and four assists, and Maric scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while getting Ohio’s Antonio Campbell in severe foul trouble.

After coming up a rebound shy of his fifth straight double-double the last time out, Campbell managed only five points and three rebounds in 13 minutes before picking up his fifth foul.

Jaaron Simmons paced the Bobcats (9-4, 0-1 MAC) with 19 points and four assists, and Kenny Kaminski added 15 points but was just 4 of 15 from the field. Treg Setty also had 15 points but fouled out.

Usually a poor shooting free-throw shooting team, the Huskies (11-2, 1-0 MAC) went 26 of 37 at the foul line, while the Bobcats were 19 of 24 in game full of fouls.

Neither team led by more than five until Northern Illinois made a run in the latter part of the second half. Treg Setty’s 3-pointer at the 10:40 mark gave Ohio its final lead, 53-52. Aaric Armstead responded with a jumper that put the Huskies back on top for good.

After each team scored a free throw, Maric scored in the paint, hit two free throws and then connected on a jumper to push Northern Illinois’ lead to 61-54. After a Setty tip-in stopped the swing, Laytwan Porter connected from deep to make it an eight-point game with 4:43 remaining, and the Bobcats got only as close as five down the stretch.

Ohio’s biggest run of the night came in the middle of the first half down 19-15. The Bobcats scored nine straight points, including a Jordan Dartis four-point play, to take their biggest lead, 24-19. Those were the only points Dartis scored on the night, and Northern Illinois rallied to take a 37-35 lead at the break.

Though turnovers have been a problem for the Bobcats this year, they committed only four, compared to 13 by the Huskies, and the teams were even with nine offensive rebounds apiece. It still was not enough for Ohio to overcome 36.1 percent shooting. Northern Illinois was good on 50 percent of its attempts, including 10 of 21 3-pointers.

In addition to Campbell and Setty, Dartis also fouled out, and Simmons finished with four fouls.

After Simmons, Setty and Kaminski, no Ohio player had more than the six points of Wadly Mompremier, who also had eight rebounds in 22 minutes.

Armstead had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Porter finished with 22 points and eight boards for the Huskies.

It was the second straight year Ohio began MAC play with a loss to Northern Illinois, but the first time in 10 years the Bobcats last in DeKalb.

Ohio hosts Ball state at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Convo.








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