Ohio won 72-61 in the Friday night game.
Forward Antonio Campbell had no sympathy for Kent State.
His 3-pointer from outside the arc with 35 seconds left erupted a Convo crowd that could have been asleep and, in return, put the Golden Flashes to bed in the 9 p.m. Friday game in which Ohio (13-7, 4-4 Mid-American Conference) won 72-61 on national television.
“Ah, I saw him drifting out there,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “I figured he’d make it. It was a fitting way for him to end the game. He did everything else for us, might as well get that, too.”
Campbell grinned ear to ear and held out three lengthy fingers as he jogged back on defense, soaking in his 28th point of the night.
“That’s my shot,” he said. “I practice those in warm-ups. I knew for a fact it was going up.”
Campbell’s 23-point second half got going after a missed opportunity by Kent State (15-6, 6-2 MAC) put the Bobcats ahead, 36-34.
Kent State big man Khaliq Spicer snatched a pass in transition and found himself directly in front of the Ohio basket. When he gathered and soared for a thundering dunk, the ball smacked against the rim and rattled in and out.
Spicer regained possession, but Ohio guard Jordan Dartis poked the ball loose, giving the Bobcats possession. On the other end, Campbell finished the Bobcats’ possession with an offensive rebound and a three-point play.
Following the botched slam, the Bobcats went on an 18-6 run that put them ahead 52-40 around the 10-minute mark.
The Flashes answered with a 9-2 run that included three contested buckets in the lane and a deep three from guard Deon Edwin that quieted The Convo and cut the lead to five.
Just when it looked like Kent State could crawl back into the game, Ohio's Treg Setty made his presence known.
Setty hit a three that rolled around the rim for a few seconds and dropped in, recovered a loose ball to hit a mid-range jumper and then put up an easy shot after he jump stopped on the fast break, sending two Kent State players flying past him.
His seven-straight points put Ohio up 10 with 4:30 to go and left Kent State searching for an answer it couldn’t find.
While the clock continued to run, the Bobcats went to Campbell on the last three possessions of the game, confident he wouldn’t surrender the lead.
“That wasn’t even my call,” Phillips said. “Our guys did that on their own. They have so much confidence in Tony, it’s ridiculous.”
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Who could blame them? Campbell was the one who got them there.
“Oh, he was incredible,” forward Kenny Kaminski said of Campbell. “Tony did his thing. He rose to the occasion.”
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