It seemed as if every time Marshall made a run Saturday, Ohio had an answer.
The Herd cut into the Bobcats’ lead via a 10-0 run with just over 12 minutes to play, but Gavin Block hit back-to-back 3s to stop the run.
Jason Carter had a layup, plus a foul, to extend Ohio’s lead after another Marshall run with nine minutes to play, and the Bobcats beat The Herd 101-84 at The Convo.
The win is Ohio’s first over Marshall in exactly three years. The last Bobcats’ win over the Herd was Dec. 1, 2015 in Athens. Marshall won in 2016 and 2017, with last year’s contest going to overtime.
Carter led the Bobcats (5-2) with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and he put an exclamation point on the Bobcats’ win with a monster one-handed dunk over Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey late in the game.
Ben Vander Plas (18), Block (18) and Teyvion Kirk (17) were also in double figures to pace the scoring.
The Herd (5-2), who were averaging 87.5 points per game coming in, ended up near their average, but were shut down by the Bobcats’ defense for much of the game. Marshall’s leading scorer, Jon Elmore, had 26 points, and C.J. Burks had 22, but The Herd weren’t able to knock down shots in the first half to keep up with the Bobcats.
The Bobcats took a 48-31 lead into the halftime break behind strong defense and a monster half from Jason Carter. The redshirt sophomore had 15 points and eight rebounds at the break.
Carter hit a 3-pointer early in the game, and it proved to be a theme early on for the Bobcats. Ohio started 5-5 from 3-point range, including the one Carter hit, and also one from fellow big man, Doug Taylor.
Gavin Block and Ben Vander Plas, the first two off the bench for coach Saul Phillips had six and nine points, respectively, in the half.
Ohio was up 26-21 at the timeout with 7:14 to play in the first half, but went on a 10-0 run after to open up a 15-point lead. Carter had six of those 10 points, and he was dominant down low.
As the Thundering Herd continued to try chipping into the Bobcats lead, they instead found themselves trading baskets. The Bobcats answered what Elmore and fellow guard Burks did, padding the Ohio lead.
The Bobcats led by as many as 18 during the first half.
