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Despite big senior efforts, Ohio season ends at Western Michigan

Ndour, Taylor score 28, 25 points, respectively, in their final games


KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Ohio's seniors did their part but it was not enough in a season-ending 82-74 loss to Western Michigan in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Monday night at University Arena.

Maurice Ndour finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Stevie Taylor had a career-high 25 points to go with five assists. Javarez Willis had only nine points but contributed a team-high six assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.

"I just kind of knew what time it was," Taylor said. "What (former Ohio) Coach (John) Groce told me freshman year is that the season is broken up into three different seasons. I knew this was a new season, a new start for me, and I just wanted to leave it out there for my guys, my coaches and for the school. That's all I wanted to do."

Ohio (10-20) led for the first 30 minutes, but Western Michigan (20-12) eventually pulled away down the stretch.

The Bobcats had no answer for Broncos sixth-year senior David Brown, who had 34 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Thomas Wilder had 18 points and five assists.

Ohio ran out to a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes and held its biggest lead at 24-10 midway through the first half, but Western Michigan worked its way back into the game before halftime, getting as close as one before going to the locker room trailing just 33-31.

The Bobcats pushed their lead back out to 46-38 five minutes into the second half and then matched the margin at 52-44 at the 12:47 mark. That is when the Broncos went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 54-52, on a pair of Brown free throws with 9:57 remaining.

After several back-and-forth minutes, Ohio held its final lead at 60-58 on a Willis basket. Brown hit two free throws and Western Michigan regained the lead on a Wilder jumper with 5:56 to go. After Ndour tied it at 62 with two foul shots with 5:39 to go, Brown put the Broncos up for good with a 3-pointer at the 5:29 mark.

On two separate occasions, Ndour scored to make it a one-point game, but each time the Broncos had an answer. Another Brown 3-pointer finally gave Western Michigan separation with a 72-66 advantage with 4:06 remaining. Ohio got no closer than five the rest of the way.

"I think our guys, they figured out that this time of the year we don't have anything to lose, so just go out there and play hard," Ndour said. "And, that's what we did. We would've loved to go to Cleveland, but that's not happening."

With Khari Harley dealing with reoccurring back problems and Wadley Mompremier having missed the last few weeks after undergoing an appendectomy, the Bobcats used only a seven-player rotation, and that became challenging with Taylor, Antonio Campbell and Ndour all finishing with four fouls.

Ohio sent Western Michigan to the foul line 27 times, and the Broncos cashed in on 22 of them. The Bobcats were 15-of-20 at the foul line. The Bobcats shot a higher percentage (44.8) than the Broncos (42.1) but Western Michigan also made five more 3-pointers.

Western Michigan had only six turnovers, while Ohio had 11.

Ndour was 9-of-11 in his final game and blocked three shots. Taylor was 9-of-19, but Willis struggled to a 3-of-13 shooting night that included making just 1-of-9 3-pointers one game after he connected on 10 of them against Miami.

Brown finished 9-of-17 overall, including 8-of-14 from long range. He added seven rebounds.

"One thing that makes this part of the year so fun and special is to watch guys who don't want to be done lay everything out there," Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. "All of the seniors out there, but in particular Brown, Maurice and Stevie. They didn't want to be done."

The last time Ohio finished with a worse record was when it went 5-21 during the 1997-98 campaign. This year's Bobcats matched the 2003-04 team with a 10-20 mark.

The MAC Tournament continues Wednesday evening at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.








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