Basketball News
Ohio gets balanced scoring in rout of Norfolk State
Six players scored in double figures
By: Lonnie McMillan / Contributor
Thursday, December 30, 2010

ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio put six players in double-figures and rolled to a 92-56 victory against Norfolk State on Thursday night.

Tommy Freeman nailed five 3-pointers and led the way with 19 points, while T.J. Hall had 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. D.J. Cooper posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

DeVaughn Washington (12 points), Reggie Keely (11 points) and Ivo Baltic (10 points) also posted double-digits.

"Offensively, we moved the ball and shared the ball," Ohio coach John Groce said.

Pendarvis Williams led Norfolk State with 13 points, and Rob Hampton scored 11 points.

Ohio (7-6) got rolling early by opening up a 10-2 advantage. A Baltic steal and three-point play gave the Bobcats a double-digit lead at 15-4 with 11:53 left in the half, and a Keely layup pushed Ohio’s lead to 38-17 with 2:20 remaining.

The Spartans (1-10) scored the final six points of the half, but the Bobcats pulled away in the second half. They took their biggest lead of 91-47 on a Baltic layup with 4:53 remaining.

After going just 1 of 4 in the first half, Freeman went 4 of 4 from 3-point range in the second half, scoring 16 points after the break.

"One of our points of emphasis after coming back from break was playing off penetration," Freeman said. "We knew we were going to get some open shots if we got to our spots when guys penetrated the lane. We saw that in scouting. I think that guys coming in and doing extra work helped the cause, especially in the second half when they went to the press. The play picked up and led to some wide-open shots for us."

Ohio dominated the boards, 48-29, but committed more turnovers, 17-15.

The Bobcats shot 51.7 percent, compared to just 32.1 percent by the Spartans.

Non-conference play comes to an end with a 2 p.m. home game Sunday against Robert Morris.




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