Jason Carter yelled at his teammates to get back.
Yet it didn’t matter.
The redshirt sophomore knocked down both of his free throws in overtime Friday night, ending the Bobcats seven-game losing streak, defeating Bowling Green in upset fashion at The Convo. In a season filled with tough stretches and unanswered questions, Ohio was able to give itself the end of a question Friday night.
Jason Preston hit a floater to tie the game at 86-86, and Teyvion Kirk grabbed his own rebound and hit the put-back to give Ohio an 88-86 lead with 2:16 left in overtime. Ohio is now 12-15 and 4-10 in the Mid-American Conference. The win keeps the Bobcats alive for a home game in the MAC Tournament and the Falcons have still not locked up a bye to Cleveland.
With six seconds left, Kirk went coast-to-coast to tie the game at 81 to send the game to overtime. Seconds earlier, Gavin Block stared into space after missing two of three free-throws, which could’ve won Ohio the game.
Both teams exchanged runs throughout the second half the, but it was Jason Carter who was the constant for the Bobcats. The redshirt sophomore forward finished the game with 23 points and eight rebounds.
Throughout nonconference season, Ohio found success shooting the basketball, which included scoring 101 points against Marshall on Dec. 1. The Bobcats found that success again Friday night, having their best shooting output of Mid-American Conference by shooting 56 percent from the field and knocking down nine 3s.
Coach Saul Phillips was on the officials all night, but he was finally given his answer in the form of a victory.
Ohio had to juggle Doug Taylor and Antonio Cowart each with four fouls for most of the second half. Taylor fouled out with 3:09 to play in the game, leaving the Bobcats without their true big man.
Ohio and Bowling Green were tied at 40 headed into the half.
Multiple players from Ohio contributed in the first half, including 14 points off the bench from Ben Vander Plas, Gavin Block and Connor Murrell.
The Bobcats shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field in the first half, and was able to win the game in the paint, out-rebounding the Falcons 21-17. It’s a facet of Ohio’s game that’s been missing as of late.
Bowling Green won the first meeting this season 82-63 on Jan. 8 at the Stroh Center. The Falcons haven’t won a game at The Convo since Jan. 12, 2016.
