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Comeback effort falls short against Bulls

Ohio misses pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers


ATHENS – Ohio’s second half deficit proved to be a little too much this time.

The Bobcats missed a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers and their attempt to come back from 17 points down in the second half fell short, 69-64, against Buffalo in a game that is sure to play a major factor in Mid-American Conference tournament seeding Wednesday night at The Convo.

With Buffalo leading 68-65, Javarez Willis missed from beyond the arc with 26 seconds left but forced Jarod Oldham to miss a layup on the other end, giving Ohio another shot. T.J. Hall’s attempt was an air ball and Shannon Evans closed out the win for Buffalo with two free throws in the final second.

A win would have given the Bobcats their eighth straight win against the Bulls, a season sweep this year and put the teams in a tie for first place in the MAC East. Instead, Buffalo (17-8, 11-4 MAC) moved two games ahead of Ohio (19-9, 9-6 MAC) with three games remaining and left the Bobcats tied with Akron for fourth place overall in the MAC standings. The Zips were knocked off by Miami.

The top four teams earn byes at least into the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament, while the rest of the league must win a total of five games in six days to capture the championship.

Nick Kellogg led Ohio with 18 points and Jon Smith scored 11 points. Javon McCrea had 15 points, Joshua Freelove scored 14 and Oldham had 13 for Buffalo.

Kellogg’s second-chance 3-pointer got Ohio to within one with 1:10 remaining, but McCrea came up with two big free throws on the next possession.

The Bulls led 48-31 on a Will Regan basket with 16:30 remaining before the Bobcats made their usual second-half push beginning with a pair of Treg Setty free throws at the 15:24 mark. Hall drained a 3-pointer barely more than two minutes later to cap 12-0 run that made it a five-point game with still more than 13 minutes left.

Travis Wilkins’ three-point play got Ohio to within four at the 11:03 mark and Kellogg hit two foul shots to make it 52-50.

Each time Ohio got within one possession, Buffalo answered small runs by the Bobcats, maintaining the lead throughout the half. Willis had a 3-pointer that made it 63-61 with 3:06 but it was followed by a long jumper by McCrea. Both teams went scoreless until Kellogg’s trey made it a one-point game.

Buffalo dominated the first half. After a Smith dunk gave Ohio a 4-2 lead, the Bulls used a 14-2 run to take a 10-point lead. The Bobcats closed to 16-14 on a Kellogg 3-pointer and trailed just 22-18 before a 7-0 Bulls run made it double digits again. Buffalo also closed the half with a 9-1 run to go up 42-27 at the break.

After allowing the Bulls to shoot 51.5 percent in the first half, the Bobcats held them to 34.5 percent shooting in the second half. The Bobcats ended up shooting a higher percentage (45.1-43.5) but had 11 less field goal tries due to allowing 14 offensive rebounds and committing 14 turnovers.

Willis, Kellogg and Setty led a balanced rebounding effort with five each. Willis had five assists but four turnovers.

Freshman Shannon Evans contributed eight points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks for Buffalo. McCrea had seven rebounds and Regan scored 10 points.

Ohio has its final home game of the season when it faces Kent State at 2 p.m. Saturday.








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