CBI: Albany Great Danes vs. Ohio Bobcats men's basketball final: Bobcats make plays down the stretch to pull out win over Albany

Treg Setty was bound and determined not to let Wednesday night be his last as a collegiate athlete. Setty stepped onto the Convocation Center floor and played a vital role in the Bobcats' 94-90 win over the Albany Great Danes that propelled the 'Cats to the CBI quarters.

Setty netted 30 points and grabbed 10 boards in front of a Ohio crowd that was happy to find a reason to chant his name. His 4 treys led both squads.

"The first three I shot on the wing in the first half, their Coach, Coach Brown said 'That's what we want,' and I was like, ah alright...I guess he wanted it," Setty said.

Kenny Kaminski, Jaaron Simmons, Jordan Dartis and Antonio Campbell all went over 10 points on the day. Simmons dished out 10 assists and is now three away from the MAC's record for dimes in a season. Simmons has 260 on the year.

"We had to use Setty's man as a universal helper, he just hit big shots," Albany Coach Will Brown said.

Though Treg Setty and Kenny Kaminski came out with energy, the rest of the Ohio squad seemed a bit flat in the game's opening minutes. Ohio tossed up 3's early in the shot clock, missing a few in the process. The 'Cats got onto the board 3:20 into the game on a Treg Setty shot from the paint and the 'Cats eased in.

The Great Danes were then the ones to look inefficient on offense and fell behind 23-16 before going on their own 7-0 run that made things tight and Ohio went into the half up 30-28.

Coach Saul Phillips employed different pairings of lineups to give some younger guys some different experience. Though Ohio grabbed a 9-point lead about halfway through the second half on a Khari Harley 3-pointer. The lead didn't last long. Part of that was Phlllips' choice to employ differing lineups. It'd allowed Albany to creep back in.

Evan Singletary played with a hurt shoulder and played the best game among the Danes. He scored 19 points and grabbed 6 boards.

The Danes did make Antonio Campbell work, doubling him early and often. Campbell put up 11 points and 8 rebounds. While Campbell was ineffective as a large result of Albany's gameplan, he was able to push past 1000 career points with a bucket at the hoop. That basket put Ohio up 71-69 with 2:09 to go in the game.

Singletary came right back at the Bobcats with a bucket. A Setty assist to a leaping Campbell put Ohio back on top 73-71. Jaaron Simmons had his chances to put the game away and sank two from the charity stripe with 27 seconds to go. After Jordan Dartis missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Peter Hooley buried a cold-blooded 3-pointer to bring it to 75-74. Two more Jaaron Simmons free throw's had the 'Cats up three, but an incredibly difficult shot from Singletary ended in a 3-pointer off the glass (sure he called it) to send the game to overtime.

Albany netted the first bucket of overtime on a Ray Sanders 3-ball, but Ohio battled. Buckets on consecutive possessions put Ohio up 89-86. Those came on a corner 3-ball and a nifty transition bucket on a euro-step. The 'Cats did enough from the line to close it out as the Bobcats prevailed.

"After practice the other day I came in and shot 1000 shots on the gun because I said I'm not going out. I'm not going out a loser," Setty said.

Coach Phillips was plenty excited to see his team's season go on. Especially in a home venue where the 'Cats moved to 14-2. Ohio will play UNC-Greensboro next on Monday.

"That crowd was engaged tonight, and they made a big difference in this game," Phillips said.