Ohio’s (17-12, 11-5 Mid-American Conference) 2024 home campaign ended on Friday night against Bowling Green(17-12, 8-8 MAC). On senior night, the Bobcats outlasted the Falcons by a score of 66-59 in a back-and-forth game that came down to the wire. Despite having two more games on the schedule, both on the road, Ohio ended its season with an 8-game winning streak at home.
“(We were) in front of another awesome crowd,” Ohio Coach Jeff Boals said. “They got into it when they needed to; they helped the adrenaline and helped the energy level …The home-court advantage we’ve had all year … has been awesome.”
Ohio honored two seniors on its senior night, Jaylin Hunter and Miles Brown. Brown led the team in scoring with 16 points, and although Hunter didn’t have his best night shooting, he impacted the game by making the most significant shot down the stretch.
In a tie-ball game with under 3 minutes to play, Ohio schemed a play to find Hunter in the corner for an open 3-point shot. Coming down the court, Hunter was 0-7 from the field on the day but that didn’t stop Ohio Coach Jeff Boals from putting the ball in his hands to win the game. When Hunter’s 3-pointer fell through the net, The Convo erupted one final time for the 5th-year senior.
“Luckily, I didn’t really realize that I missed the last seven (shots),” Hunter said. “I actually heard D’Angelo Russel yesterday after the Wizards game say, ‘I don’t pay attention to misses and makes; I’m just hoopin'.’ I just wanted to have that mindset, make the right decisions and take care of the ball.”
Hunter’s score put Ohio out in front by 3, but the game wasn’t decided yet. Defensively, Ohio went down the court and picked up a critical defensive rebound by Brown. Marching down the court offensively once more, it was AJ Clayton this time knocking down a 3-point score that put the Bobcats up 6 with under a minute to play.
Though the Bobcats were able to come out with a narrow victory in the end, it wasn’t the cleanest game for them offensively.
Eight minutes into the game, the score was just 5-5, and there were more total turnovers, eleven, than there were total points, 10. In that same span, Ohio was shooting under 30% from the field.
“Early on, our shots weren’t falling,” Brown said. “We didn’t want our offense to affect our defense. Once we really locked in our defense, we knew our offense would come, and we saw that at the end of the half.”
Things began to turn around for the Bobcats in the final 3 minutes of the first half, where the team would go on a scoring run of 7-0. What could have been a 5-plus point deficit heading into the half became a tied game at 28-28.
Having good energy in the crowd coming out of the locker room, Ohio’s offense once again seemed to fall flat. While the offense struggled, the Bobcat defense kept the team in the game through the first 10 minutes of the half.
As the second half progressed, it became a back-and-forth game featuring a total of 11 lead changes.
Aidan Hadaway played a crucial role in the second half offensively, with 10 of his 13 total points coming in the second half. Anytime Ohio desperately needed a score to stay in the game, it went to Hadaway for a bucket inside the paint.
In the end, with under two minutes to play, Ohio’s two seniors, playing their final two minutes of basketball, stepped up to propel the team to victory.
Hunter led the team with five rebounds and four assists, while Brown led the team in scoring with 16 points and four assists. With family in the crowd, it was the perfect ending for both Brown and Hunter.
“That’s the best feeling in the world, just looking up in the stands and seeing the ones I love watching me play the game I love,“ Brown said. “You can’t beat that."
