PREGAME
Ohio looks to keep its postseason hopes alive as they host Virginia Military Institute Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. A victory would give the Bobcats three postseason wins in a single season for the first time in porgram history.
The Bobcats advanced after defeating Wright State 56-54 Saturday. Ohio redshirt junior guard Javarez Willis scored 21 points to lead the Bobcats over the Raiders. The Bobcats will look to slow down Keydets, who like to push the tempo and put up several points against the opposition. The Keydets lead the nation in scoring, with 88.9 points per game. In the CIT, VMI is averaging 108.5 points per contest.
They are paced in scoring by senior center D.J. Covington, who averages 19.9 points per game. He set a CIT single-game scoring record Saturday against IPFW, when he accounted for 41 points.
STARTING LINEUPS:
OHIO:
redshirt junior guard Javarez Willis, junior forward Maurice Ndour, senior guard Nick Kellogg, senior guard Travis Wilkins, freshman forward Antonio Campbell
VMI:
senior guard Rodney Glasgow, junior guard Brian Brown, freshman guard QJ Peterson, senior center D.J. Covington, sophomore forward Phillip Anglade
FIRST HALF
While VMI is known for their high potent offense, it was Ohio who racked up the majority of the points in the first half.
Ohio jumped on the Keydets early and never looked back in the first half as they went into halftime with a 46-39 lead. It marked the Bobcats highest first half scoring output of the season. The Bobcats quickly put their mark on the game, as they opened up a 13-3 lead four minutes into the game. Junior forward Maurice Ndour was a perfect 8-8 from the field, leading all scorers with 18 points. Ndour was also 2-2 from behind the arc. The Keydets had trouble finding the bottom of the net early, as they were 2-10 from the field during the first five minutes of the first half. A 3-poiner by Ndour increased the Bobcats lead to 26-13 with 11:12 left in the first half.
VMI started to find its groove in the latter minutes of the first half. They cut Ohio’s lead to seven points following a 10-0 run with 5:04 left in the first half. The Bobcats quickly responded, increasing its lead to 10 points with 3:26 left in the half. The Keydets were never able to really threaten the Bobcats in the waning minutes of the half as Ohio led by seven when the buzzer sounded.
SECOND HALF
The Keydets wasted little time proving why they are the highest scoring team in the nation during the second half against Ohio.
VMI scored 53 points in the second half to defeat Ohio 92-90 in the quarterfinals of the CIT. Ohio’s Nick Kellogg finished off his Bobcat career with 30 points, a career best. Ndour finished with 26 points, however was limited to eight points by the Keydets in the second half.
The Keydets stormed back in the second half with hot shooting. VMI shot 67.9 percent from the field in the second half and converted five 3-pointers.
VMI quickly erased a seven-point halftime deficit and took a 54-53 lead with 14:17 remaining in the contest. The Keydets gained the momentum and slowed Ohio down with their ability to make shots and run quick offensive sets. With 9:26 left in the contest VMI increased its lead to 70-62 to put a damper on the Bobcat’s fine first half.
VMI was paced in scoring by senior guard Rodney Glasgow, who finished with 30 points. Keydets senior center D.J. Covington chipped in 29 points and 11 rebounds to help their cause.
Ohio tried its best to make things interesting with three minutes remaining in the contest. Kellogg cut VMI’s lead to three with 1:59 left in the game after converting two free throws.
The Bobcats then had a chance to tie the score at 86 with 45 seconds left in the game, but junior guard Stevie Taylor missed a 3-pointer and Glasgow converted the miss into a layup to make the score 88-83. The Bobcats were down three, 90-87 with seven seconds left but failed to tie the score in the final seconds. Two free throws by Glasgow sealed the Bobcats fate before Kellogg made a quick three pointer at the buzzer.
FINAL BOX
VMI
Rodney Glasgow- 30 points, five assists and two rebounds
D.J. Covington- 29 points and 11 rebounds
Brian Brown- 10 points and two rebounds
OHIO
Nick Kellogg- 30 points, five rebounds and three assists
Maurice Ndour- 26 points and seven rebounds
Javarez Willis- 13 points and six assists
