All season long, Ohio has found a way to lose games down the stretch.
Blown leads and losses stemmed from turnovers, foul calls and missed free throws, the Bobcats have made a living off snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
And Saturday at The Convo, it looked like it would happen once more. Miami forced overtime after two free throws with little time left and took an early four-point lead in overtime.
But this time, the Bobcats rebounded with turnovers of their own and made timely 3-pointers. It was a fresh breath for a team in desperate need of one, as Ohio beat Miami 92-87 in overtime.
"I thought offensively, we executed pretty darn well for big chunks of the night," coach Saul Phillips said. "Overall, you take away some of our really rough decisions at the end of regulation there. It was a pretty solid offensive output for us.”
It was just under a week ago when Ohio held Toledo to 13 field goals in the final 35 minutes. But foul trouble sent the Rockets to the line 37 times, a number the Bobcats couldn't overcome. Ohio had done everything right, except stay out of foul trouble.
Those same "grease fires" popped up Saturday, but this time Ohio was able to handle the stress and problems they presented. This time, the Bobcats had an answer.
“Demons are still there," Phillips said. "Again, it is tough when you’re competitive every night and there’s not a payoff. It’s tough to face your guys when you know they feel bad, you feel bad for them."
Yet, the Bobcats led for 35 minutes in a 45-minute contest. They even led by seven with 3:11 left to play in regulation. But then, it looked like they were set to blow yet another game down the stretch. Miami countered with a 6-0 run and then made two free throws late to push the game to overtime. And in the first two minutes of the overtime period, the RedHawks took a four-point lead.
Gavin Block, removed from the starting lineup for the first time in nearly two years, said he and the team couldn't think of the final stretch as repeating history.
“Can’t think like that in my opinion," Block said. "I don’t think like that, that’s something where you can think about it after the game. Just executing.”
That's when the Bobcats flipped the script, though, and began to make shots and plays they hadn't all season long. Instead of folding, Ohio made the necessary plays to finally come out with a win.
“When shots are falling and we’re playing good defense, there’s no feeling better than that," Jordan Dartis said. "Just getting a win at the end of the day, that’s all that matters to us. Just trying to stay consistent.”
The win pushes Ohio (11-14, 4-9 Mid-American Conference) to its sixth straight win over Miami (13-14, 6-8 MAC) with two weeks left to play in the regular season.
Ohio has lost six games by five points or less this season, a disturbing stat for a team that carried a lead, and almost blew it, in the game's final minutes. But it is nothing but good feelings and relief for the Bobcats right now.
The Bobcats still have problems to fix — that was apparent in the game's final moments. But for the first time in a long time, they came out with a win when it looked like another blown lead was ahead.
“I really wished we could have finished it off a little bit better, obviously," Phillips said. "But at this point, beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll take what we got.”
