Ohio found itself in another close game down the stretch Saturday.
It was nothing new to the Bobcats, as their previous two home games were decided by one basket.
They won both of those games and held on again Saturday against Eastern Michigan for a 76-73 victory, thanks to stout defense from senior guard Stevie Taylor during the final seconds.
“We sure can’t seem to be making things very easy on ourselves,” coach Saul Phillips said. “It seems to be a recurring theme, so we better pad up that lead going down the stretch.”
The Bobcats (9-12, 4-6 MAC) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Eagles didn’t go away after their guard Raven Lee scored 31 points after halftime.
Lee didn’t start because he was battling an illness. He only scored two points during five first-half minutes, but went on to finish with 33 in 21 minutes.
“He’s capable. It’s hard when somebody gets going, so you’ve just got to play the best defense that you can and I feel like the last play we just happened to be there,” redshirt senior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis said.
Lee, during his hot streak, was smack-talking the Bobcats, which finished with nine blocks. Lee told sophomore forward Antonio Campbell he would dunk on the next Bobcats player to try and block him.
“I actually went up and blocked the shot and gave him a little smirk like ‘what happened to the dunk?’,” Campbell said.
Campbell finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He was one of three Bobcats in double-digits, as Willis and senior Maurice Ndour finished with 22 and 16 points, respectively.
After losing 10 days ago to the Eagles by 36 points, Willis credited Saturday's victory to taking smarter shots.
Ohio struggled at the beginning and trailed by eight points about five minutes into the game, but Eastern Michigan wasn’t making shots of its own. The Bobcats held the Eagles to 24 points in the first half — the fewest they’ve allowed an opponent to score this season.
“We came out at Eastern Michigan, we missed a bunch of shots early and it sucked all the energy out the room,” Phillips said. “Tonight we didn’t let missing shots deter us.”
Willis said the Bobcats were more patient Saturday. He missed his first five shots, but kept shooting.
Ohio will return to action Tuesday against Central Michigan, which defeated Ohio last weekend. The Bobcats will attempt to finish their three-game home stand undefeated.
Phillips doesn’t prefer the Bobcats to play close games, because blow out victories are more fun. Still, Ohio recorded its fourth win in the last six games, after holding on during the final seconds.
“In practice we actually get scored on, but in games I guess we get our stops,” Campbell said.
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