National Basketball Association
Ohio St. 79, N.C. Asheville 77
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 22, 2016
Where: Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Officials:
# Gene Steratore, # Steve McJunkins, # Rob Kueneman
Attendance:
11480
By The Sports Xchange
A second straight hot-shooting night wasn't enough for Ohio State to shake UNC Asheville, but JaQuan Lyle scored eight points in the final four minutes to save the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes shot 54.7 percent from the field and edged the Bulldogs 79-77 on Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio.
Lyle and Jae'Sean Tate led one of the nation's most balanced attacks with 17 points each, and 7-foot center Trevor Thompson had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in the past six games.
Six players are averaging double figures in scoring for the Buckeyes (10-3).
Guard MaCio Teague led the Bulldogs (8-5) with 23 points, and Raekwon Miler had 15.
Despite appearing to struggle against UNC Asheville's 1-3-1 trapping zone, the Buckeyes, who were 29 of 53 from the field, appeared in control with a 62-52 lead with eight minutes remaining.
However, Teague scored seven points during a 15-3 Bulldogs run that was punctuated by consecutive fouls on Thompson, including a technical foul, his fifth, with 4:25 left. UNC Asheville led for the first time since the game's opening two minutes.
That was when Lyle took over.
The sophomore guard was 2 of 2 from the line and made all three of his field goals to put the Buckeyes up 75-71.
Bulldogs forward Alec Wnuk hit from beyond the arc to cut the lead to two with five seconds left, but Kam Williams made two free throws on the next possession to seal it for the Buckeyes.
UNC Asheville's 3-point shooting kept this one from becoming a blowout. The Bulldogs were 11 of 24 as a team and outscored the Buckeyes 33-3 from beyond the arc.
Ahmad Thomas, the nation's steals leader and UNC Ashville's top scorer, was held under 10 points for the first time this season. He finished with nine points.
Ohio State led 36-33 at halftime.
The Buckeyes played without center Micah Potter, who was injured during the tipoff of Tuesday's game against Youngstown State.
Ohio State's next game is Jan. 1 at Illinois, the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The Bulldogs begin Big South conference play on Dec. 29 at Radford.
Top Game Performances
| N.C. Asheville |
|
Ohio St. |
|
MaCio Teague 23 |
Scoring |
JaQuan Lyle 17 |
|
MaCio Teague 5 |
Assists |
JaQuan Lyle 6 |
|
MaCio Teague 6 |
Rebounds |
Trevor Thompson 10 |
|
MaCio Teague 7 |
Free Throws Made |
JaQuan Lyle 4 |
|
Ahmad Thomas 2 |
Steals |
Jae'Sean Tate 2 |
|
Raekwon Miller 1 |
Blocks |
Marc Loving 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| N.C. Asheville
|
77 |
43.8 |
11-24 |
10-15 |
14 |
26 |
3 |
4 |
10 |
| Ohio St.
|
79 |
54.7 |
3-10 |
18-26 |
15 |
35 |
4 |
2 |
13 |
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