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This time it was Javarez Willis, who scored 21 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:02 remaining to help Ohio rally past Wright State in the second round of the College Basketball.com Tournament on Saturday at The Convo.

Though he struggled through foul trouble, Antonio Campbell finished with eight points and five rebounds in 14 minutes. Treg Setty added seven points and five boards for the Bobcats (25-11).

Wright State (21-15) was held to 32.2 percent shooting, including a 5-of-18 performance on 3-pointers after it went 9 of 15 in its first-round win against East Carolina. The Raiders shot just 23.3 percent in the first half but managed to hold a 21-20 lead at the break.

With Ohio down 50-48, Willis’ 3-pointer came quickly after a Wright State miss on the other end. Pushing the ball up the court hard, Willis said he saw an opening to get up an attempt.

“He cut me off pretty strong and slipped a bit and I saw some light so I just shot it,” he said. “I thought I would make it.”

Travis Wilkins jumped in front of a Raiders pass along the sideline and saved the ball to Willis, who scored a contested layup that pushed the Ohio lead to three with 42 seconds to go.

Both shots were representative of Willis’ increasing confidence as he has received more playing time while Stevie Taylor has nursed a leg injury.

“I actually thought that (3-pointer) was a better shot than the one he took when we had the three-on-one break when he Stephen Curryed us. … There’s things you have to understand and learn from so you don’t make the same mistakes, but you also build confidence. That’s a shot he wouldn’t have taken three weeks ago. When we were in a stagnant state, he got us going. That’s what these games are for.”

Setty rebounded a missed Reggie Arceneaux 3-pointer and sank two free throws to make it a five-point game with 32 seconds left, but Wright State still had a shot to win at the buzzer. Matt Vest, who finished with 13 points, scored a layup, and after Ndour split two free throws, Tavares Sledge put back a 3-point miss by Vest with six seconds to go. Vest then stole Ohio’s inbounds pass around midcourt and put up a prayer that was off to the left.

After combining for only nine points in the Bobcats’ opening-round win against another Horizon League foe, Cleveland State, Kellogg and Ndour were held to 10 points Saturday. While it was Campbell, Setty and Taylor who picked up the scoring slack four days ago, this time the load was carried by Willis, who went 7 of 11, including 5 of 6 from downtown. It came after scoring only two points against the Vikings.

The Bobcats fell behind 13-2 and played from behind for most of the game before finally taking a 39-37 lead on a Campbell layup midway through the second half. Ohio’s lead grew to five on a Setty basket at the 8:29 mark, but Ohio failed to cash in on opportunities to add to its advantage and Wright State came back with a 10-0 run.

AJ Pacher converted a three-point play and Vest missed a free throw that could have been good for another to give Wright State the lead. The Raiders instead went back on top with a Pacher dunk, and he added a 3-pointer with 5:15 remaining. After sitting much of the first half with two fouls, he finished with a team-high 16 points.

Lonnie McMillan Photo

“When you look at their basketball program, (the Raiders) start five seniors,” Christian said. “Can you imagine how disheartening it was for those seniors to lose in their building (in the finals of the Horizon League tournament) to go to the NCAA tournament? And they come back and play hard.

“We played unbelievably hard. Both teams played unbelievably hard on both ends of the floor.”

That was evident with the first-half defense. Ohio went scoreless for four and a half minutes as Wright State went on a 9-0 run to go up by nine. Taylor finally scored the Bobcats’ second basket at the 13:24 mark.

The Raiders then went scoreless for more than four minutes and went almost five minutes without a field goal but still managed to hold a lead. Willis connected on all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half to keep the Bobcats in the game and Taylor added a short fadeaway jumper before halftime to make it a one-point game.

Aside from Willis, Ohio was 0 for 6 on 3-pointers. Kellogg went 0 for 2 from deep and just 2 of 9 overall.

“When Nick and Travis are struggling to hit shots, they look for me,” Willis said. “They tell me to keep shooting.”

Three different times Ohio cut its deficit to one in the second half and it finally managed to tie the game on a T.J. Hall layup off of an inbound pass at the 12:32 mark.

Ohio had no offensive rebounds in the first half and just two in the game. It also committed three more turnovers than Wright State, leading to the Raiders taking 13 more shots from the field.

The victory is the 25th for the Bobcats for just the third time in school history. Ohio’s quarterfinal matchup will be determined by the CIT committee after results from the remaining second round games are completed tonight. The next round of the tournament is scheduled to be held between Tuesday and Thursday.

“We’re able to play a little bit more loose almost because it’s postseason basketball and we all want to win,” Setty said. “It’s been a lot of fun. We want to keep winning and moving on and our goal is to win the whole thing.”