CLEVELAND — Ohio coach Jim Christian slowly made his way to the podium and sat down to open a news conference, holding back tears and trying to hide the lump in his throat.
The second-year coach and the rest of his team were filled with disappointment after Ohio fell to Akron 83-77 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
“As a coach, I’ve always judged our teams by the finality of if you lose in the conference tournament or if you lose in the NCAA Tournament,” Christian said. “What is the reaction in the room? And there wasn’t a dry eye in our house. So what that tells you is that those guys put their heart and soul into this.”
A high-level of intensity could be felt in Quicken Loans Arena throughout the game, especially in the second half, when both teams traded punches like heavyweight fighters.
Akron senior forward Demetrius Treadwell and Ohio junior forward Maurice Ndour battled on each end of the floor. When Treadwell hit a layup on one end to trim Ohio’s lead to three points with 16:58 remaining, Ndour answered on the other end with a jumper to put the Bobcats ahead by two baskets.
Zips sophomore wing Reggie McAdams nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 13:33 left to cut the Bobcats’ lead to 50-49 before Ohio senior guard Travis Wilkins followed that up with a three of his own on the next possession.
But in the final 9:04, Akron kept punching and Ohio couldn’t respond.
The Zips outscored the Bobcats 27-13 in the homestretch, with Ohio committing five turnovers and hitting just three of its 12 shot attempts.
In the final stanza, Akron scored 12 points off Ohio’s seven turnovers and 13 second-chance points off of seven offensive rebounds.
“We just hung in there and made enough plays when it mattered,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. “We had the advantage at the end. They tired a little at the end, I thought, having to play Saturday, Monday and Wednesday, so I think that’s why we won the game.”
Ohio players disagreed with Dambrot’s assessment, summarizing the late struggles as simply a lack of execution.
“I don’t think we really got tired,” senior forward T.J. Hall said. “We’ve been taking care of our bodies. We just started turning the ball over and we just couldn’t hit any shots.”
The first half started off at a frantic pace, with the teams combining for 25 points just 5:29 into the game.
Ohio’s offense was quick but efficient, avoiding its first turnover until the 11:54 mark, and found itself with a 22-15 lead with 10:18 before the break.
But a stretch of five consecutive possessions ending in giveaways threw that efficiency by the wayside.
Despite Ohio’s inability to hold onto the ball during that stretch, the Zips didn’t take advantage, and the Bobcats exited it still holding a 22-20 lead.
The final 7:14 of the half saw Ohio steadily expand a two-point lead to eight points in the final 40 seconds, getting easy post touches to freshman forward Antonio Campbell and Ndour in the paint as a good deal of Akron’s defensive attention focused on Ohio sharpshooter Nick Kellogg.
Kellogg, a senior guard, lead all scorers with 25 points and was called “unbelievable” by Dambrot.
Wednesday’s loss eliminates any chance Ohio had of entering the NCAA Tournament. And with a National Invitation Tournament bid unlikely, Ohio’s postseason hopes rest on bids into either the College Basketball Invitational or CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
“This is the toughest thing I’ve went through since my senior year of high school,” Hall said. “It’s tough, man, because you just think about everything in one moment that’s happened in four years. It’s just tough, man, for everyone.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
@C_Hoppens
