Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

DeKalb, Ill.-Ohio senior forward Leon Williams (Baltimore, Md.) recorded his 10^th double-double of the season and his 37^th overall to power the Bobcats' men's basketball team to a 73-55 win at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center Saturday afternoon. The performance was Williams' third straight double-double and fourth in his last six games.

Ohio improved to 15-6 overall and 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference with its fifth-straight win, while the Huskies dipped to 5-15 overall and 2-6 in the league.

Williams, the reigning MAC Player of the Week, hit on six of nine from the field and eight of 10 from the free throw line to register a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds with an assist, a block and two steals in just 29 minutes. Junior forward Jerome Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) had 17 points on 7-10 shooting from the field, while senior guard Bubba Walther (Cincinnati, Ohio) had 15 points and a game-high six assists with no turnovers in 34 minutes off the bench.

Ohio also got a stellar performance from freshman guard Tommy Freeman (Muncie, Ind.), who had nine points on 3-4 shooting from downtown. However, possibly his biggest contribution came on the defensive end where he took all four of the Bobcats' charges and keyed an Ohio defense that forced 17 NIU turnovers, which were promptly converted into 23 Ohio points. In all, the Bobcats' bench brigade outscored NIU's 31-11.

The Huskies were led by Sean Smith and Darion Anderson, who had 19 and 16 points, respectively, to go along with three assists each. Anderson also had a team-high eight boards, but NIU lost the overall battle on the glass 36-27.

After the Huskies snatched an early 4-0 lead, Ohio bounced back and took the lead for good on a Freeman 3-pointer seven minutes, 34 seconds into the game to pull ahead 12-10. After that, the Bobcats gradually increased the lead to 20 by halftime (40-20).

Much of Ohio's early success can be attributed to its hot-shooting first half, when it made 15-28 from field (53.6 percent) and 46.7 percent (7-15) from 3-point range

Ohio held its largest lead with 7:15 remaining in the game at 27 (62-35) on a layup by Tillman, but NIU did its best to claw back into the game by cutting the deficit to as little as 16.

With the win, the Bobcats pulled into a tie for first place in the MAC East after Toledo (7-13 overall, 4-4 MAC) defeated Kent State (17-5 overall, 6-2 MAC) earlier Saturday afternoon.

The Bobcats will be back in action at Eastern Michigan (7-12 overall, 3-4 MAC) Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.