Hobart 64, Ohio Wesleyan 60
Senior wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) hit a 3-pointer that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 60-54 lead with 2:47 left in regulation time, but Hobart closed out the game with a 10-0 run to defeat the Bishops in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday in Radnor, Pa.
Hobart advances to face the winner of Friday's Cabrini-Castleton State game, while Ohio Wesleyan suffers its first-ever first-round defeat in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Bishops used back-to-back hoops from junior post Billy Reilich (Dayton/Centerville) and junior post Greg White (Centerville) to take a 21-13 lead with 6:52 left in the first half, then pushed the lead to 26-17 as junior post Marshall Morris (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) hit a jumper and Brady followed with a steal and fast-break dunk.
The Statesmen kept in the game, however, and used jumpers from Greg Stern and Joe Gibbons and a Stern 3-pointer to even the score at 28 with 1:14 to play in the half.
Ohio Wesleyan answered with a Winters jumper from the lane and a 3-point buzzer beater by Brady to take a 33-28 halftime lead, and the Bishops extended the margin to 38-30 with the help of a pair of Brady lay-ins early in the second half.
The Bishops took a pair of 9-point leads, the latter on a lay-in by sophomore post Reuel Rogers (Columbus/Bexley) with 12:01 remaining, but the Statesmen stayed in the game, rallying to within 47-44 with 9:05 left as Stefan Thompson and Gibbons each hit a pair of free throws.
That pattern repeated itself once more when junior guard Andy Winters (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) found junior wing Vaughn Spaulding (Reynoldsburg) for a thunderous alley-oop dunk, then junior post Greg White (Centerville) scored on a fast break to give the Bishops a 57-49 lead with 5:37 left in regulation time, only to see Hobart come back to within 57-54 on baskets by Trey Blanding and Richie Bonney.
Brady's 3-pointer pushed the Bishop lead back to 60-54, but Bonney scored on a putback to bring the Statesmen within 60-56 with 2:25 remaining, and after Brady misfired on a pair of 3-pointers and Winters missed the front end of a one-and-one, Matt Pebole, Hobart's leading scorer, hit a jumper from the lane -- his first basket of the evening -- to make it a 60-58 game with :39 to play.
Pebole then stole White's inbounds pass and was fouled, hitting the first but missing the second. Bonney was there to grab the rebound, however, and Pebole got the ball back and laid it in for a 61-60 Hobart lead with :29 remaining.
After a Bishop timeout, the ball went to Brady on the right side, but his shot with :09 left rolled off the rim and Joe Gibbons grabbed the rebound. Fouled with :06 to play, Thompson hit both free throws for a 63-60 Hobart lead.
Ohio Wesleyan had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Winters lost the ball out of bounds with just over a second to play, and Stern hit a free throw to seal the outcome.
Brady led the Bishops with 20 points, while Winters finished with 12 points and 5 assists, and Morris scored 10 points. White grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Gibbons scored 17 points to lead Hobart.
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