Ohio falls to Bowling Green in the Convo, 91-75.
There’s a scene in "The Polar Express" in which the train hit a patch of ice and started to slide off the rails and had to get itself back onto the tracks before it got to the other side of the lake.
It took some well-timed movements, but just as the train reached the other side of the lake, the train ended up on the right path and everything was fine.
Despite the loss, that’s kind of what the second half of Ohio’s game against Bowling Green began to look like around the eight minute mark.
After the Falcons had distanced themselves from the Bobcats by nine points and hit 15 of their first 24 shots in the second half, the Bobcats slowly began to steady themselves, forcing a couple of mistakes and making the most out of key possessions.
Then, Bowling Green’s Ismail Ali was fouled by Ohio's Jaaron Simmons on a 3-point play, and a shoving match broke out around the Falcons’ bench. Ohio would pick up three technical fouls as the train crashed into the iceberg, falling to Bowling Green 91-75.
The foul was costly for the Bobcats, as the Falcons made every free throw and then added a 3-point play to give themselves 10 total points on just one possession.
The loss dropped Ohio to 10-5, 1-2 in the Mid-American Conference.
“A loss is a loss,” Ohio freshman Jordan Dartis said. “We don’t take losses too good, but I think we’re gonna learn from this together and bounce back and be okay. Every game we go into in the MAC is a battle, and we just have to be tougher and play harder.”
Ohio began the game with a hot start by scoring on each of its first seven possessions. That included a 4-for-4 start from behind the arc, three of which came from redshirt junior Kenny Kaminski, who was coming off a scoreless endeavor against Ball State.
The Bobcats stayed on target offensively throughout the first 10 minutes of the contest and, at one point, held a 29-15 lead over the Falcons.
Soon afterward, however, Ohio found itself with four starters on the bench sitting on two fouls apiece, and Ohio's train began to slip off the tracks.
With four starters on the bench, the green morale on the floor showed, particularly during a six-possession stretch during which the Bobcats turned the ball over five times.
“I thought the reserves did a nice job on the defensive side,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “It was just hard to find rhythm in the second half. I think our guys played afraid to foul. It’s hard to sit as long as some of those guys did and rev the engine back up, but we’ve gotta figure out how to do it, because it’s not gonna be the last time it happens.”
Bowling Green's Spencer Parker, who finished with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds, scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half to help launch the Falcons out of the gate. Bowling Green’s command on the game began to loosen a bit as it got into the five minute mark of the second half, but Simmon's foul lead to a 10-point swing.
Bowling Green players said they attempted to help Simmons up after he fouled Ali on the 3-point try, but were pushed around by Bobcat players in the process. Ohio personnel claimed the opposite.
Officials, after about a 15-minute replay review, sided with the Falcons, resulting in three technical fouls for Ohio and likely game-deciding possession.
“I’ll never tell my players not to help up a teammate, especially when they believe he’s in danger,” Phillips said. “They proved they were willing to help their teammate up, and they proved that they cared. The root of it, honestly, is a very positive sign. They’ve got each other’s back.”
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