As the final seconds dwindled down on The Convo’s video board Friday night, Saul Phillips exuded pure joy.
The fifth-year coach couldn’t help himself. The last three weeks and six-straight losses have weighed on him and the Bobcats, but that crippling streak is no more.
Fans cheered as Phillips and the Bobcats left the floor. Hugs were given, high fives received. For one night in The Convo, basketball was fun again. All seemed right — even in the midst of a nightmare February — in Ohio’s 92-87 upset win over Mid-American Conference leader Bowling Green.
“We played like a team not hungry for a win,” Phillips said. “Starving for a win.”
Phillips is right. The Bobcats shot 56.1 percent from the field and made half their 3s. After getting steamrolled by Buffalo by nearly 50 three days prior, Ohio outplayed Bowling Green, who entered the game as the top team in the MAC, but leave Athens now in second place.
Phillips hadn’t won a game in nearly a month. His seat steadily warmed, and fans grew angry with an un-energized team continuously losing.
But Friday night, all wounds seemed healed. All losses seemed forgotten. All talk before the game was hushed. It didn’t matter the opponent, it didn’t matter the score and it certainly didn’t matter how it happened. The losing streak was put to rest.
“Just staying together, staying positive, not giving up on each other, sticking to the game plan just allowed us to play great tonight and get the job done,” said Teyvion Kirk, who hit a layup in the final seconds to send the game to overtime. Kirk eventually hit a shot that put Ohio ahead for good in the extra period.
With every Jason Carter putback and Kirk layup, the 6,008 in attendance erupted louder. Bowling Green became tighter offensively. The Ohio bench slowly showed more animation. The thought of a win finally crept back into the minds of each player wearing green and white.
Phillips compared winning after six losses to the first stepping out of a sweaty sauna. Carter and Kirk smiled when fielding questions for the first time in some time.
Ohio will likely lose more games this season. The Buffalo team that waxed Ohio by 47 on Tuesday night? That team is still on the schedule. The Bobcats also have to face Kent State and Akron on the road. Those aren’t easy games.
But those games didn’t matter Friday night after the popcorn and candy wrappers were swept out of the bleachers in The Convo. Of course, Phillips will watch the film. All coaches do, win or lose. After finally winning, though, celebrating is what mattered.
“I celebrate with my guys whenever they do something good,” Phillips said. “I celebrate it when they get an A on a test. I’m a happy guy. I think it was, for them, justification for sticking to it. If you have the right motives in mind, you’re in this to watch young men have success. That’s a big part of the joy that I take from my job.”
Ohio knocked off the top team in the MAC, a team that thumped the Bobcats by 19 on Jan. 8. That doesn’t make the Bobcats the best team in the conference. They aren’t that. But it does, however, give them a win rather than their seventh consecutive loss.
And for that, Phillips will celebrate. He celebrated on the floor directly after the game. He did it in the locker room. He’ll likely do it when he goes home, too.
At least for one night.
“(Celebrating) involves ice, a cup, soda and whatever ingredients are in the house,” Phillips said with a laugh.
