Playing without their best individual, the Bobcats had their best team win Saturday afternoon, as Ohio tamed Northern Illinois 78-69 on the road.
The win came at a good time for Ohio, which entered the game with its conference record slipping and its best player, Antonio Campbell, officially ruled out for the remainder of the season.
What followed, though, was the best collective team performance this season and answer to coach Saul Phillips’s quest to find Campbell’s replacement: his team.
“We had some things go right tonight,” Phillips said after the game. “We shared the ball well and we won.”
Jaaron Simmons, who said earlier in the week that he needed to be more influential on offense, plucked the Northern defense apart, finishing with a season-high 23 points and five assists.
Jason Carter, who made his first career start in replacement of Campbell, finished with the best performance of his career. The freshman had 15 points and 12 rebounds, which was his second double-double in three games.
Even Mike Laster, who averaged 2.1 points per game before Northern, shined, going 3-of-6 on 3-point attempts for a career-high 14 points.
“That was a nice little surprise for us,” Phillips said of Laster’s night. “Yeah, I can’t say in the game plan that Laster gets six 3s off. That wasn’t my plan going into tonight.”
Jordan Dartis also had 14 points on 4-of-6 from 3.
The stats appear cumbersome, but they prove a point. After Ohio (12-5, 4-2 MAC) struggled at home against Eastern Michigan last Saturday and were unraveled by Akron on Tuesday, the Northern win was Ohio’s first without Campbell having any impact on a game. (Though, Campbell played three minutes against Eastern.)
Despite getting into foul trouble early in both halves, the Bobcats never appeared frazzled or uncomfortable without the reigning conference MVP.
Rather, the Bobcats seamlessly passed the ball with precision, finding open shots and making field goal attempts. Northern (12-7, 4-2), had won eight of its previous nine, in addition to having an 8-2 home record.
But the goal now for Ohio is simple: consistency.
Perhaps the win will appear as an outlier of teamwork and an all-around impressive performance, or maybe the win can prove Campbell’s absence won’t completely disintegrate postseason ambition.
Either way, it showed that Ohio can win, with or without Campbell.
“I talk all the time to the guys about putting yourself in a position to let your teammates make you better,” Phillips said.
