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The Ohio Bobcats relied heavy on their starters as the defeated the Tennessee Tech Eagles 68-57. The starters combined for 51 of the 68 points on the day. Jaaron Simmons and Jordan Dartis led the Bobcats attack as the junior and sophomore combined for 34 points.
Dartis a sophomore continued his strong early season with his third double digit scoring effort and first 20 point game. The outburst was attributed to his work behind the three point line going 6 of 12. Simmons had a very complete game with 12 points of his own to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Simmons was coming off his best game a win at Georgia Tech where he almost had a double double.
Dartis and Simmon’s efforts were needed as star power forward Antonio Campbell struggled from the field and battled foul trouble playing on 29 minutes. The senior coming off MAC Player of the year honors as a junior is looking to match his 2015 season by averaging 19.7 through his first four games.
The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles were coming off a 19-10 season and a loss in the opening round of the Vegas 16 tournament heading into the 2016 season. The Golden Eagles had their biggest lead up 20-11 with 10 minutes left to go in the first half. In a turn of events led by Simmons and Dartis the Bobcats turned a nine point deficit into a six point halftime lead 31-25.
The Golden Eagles did actually shoot better both from the field and the three point for the game than the Bobcats. Although, the Bobcats made eight more free throws and three more three pointers providing the difference in scoring.
Aleksa Jukovic played well in the loss for the Golden Eagles chipping in 20 points on a very efficient 7-11 from the field. The 1-5 Golden Eagles face the Hiwassee College Tigers a non Division 1 opponent on Monday. The 4-0 Bobcats travel to Marshall for another non conference bout on Wednesday night.