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Men's Basketball
Gritty Bulldogs Take OSU to Overtime
By John Porentas

The Buckeyes (2-0) needed overtime to defeat a gritty Butler (2-2) team by a final score of 79-69 before 12,915 fans at Value City Arena.

OSU guard Jamar Butler took over the game in the extra period, registering six free throws, an assist that led to a three by guard Ron Lewis, and a three of his own as the Buckeyes outscored Butler 19-9 in overtime after the game ended at 60 all in regulation.

"I'm disappointed that we weren't able to convert a couple more times and challenge them a little bit more in the overtime, but they're a good team, and the one young man, number 14 (Butler), hit some big shots. He really shot it in," said Butler Head Coach Todd Lickliter.

"I thought he made some tremendous reads even on balls that got to Terence. It's happy he was with us tonight," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta of Butler's play at the end of the game and in overtime.

Despite some sloppy play on offense, the Buckeyes appeared to have the game in hand with just over two minutes left in regulation. OSU lead by 11 at 59-48 with 2:18 left to play when Butler canned a three, but the Bulldogs simply refused to go away.

Consecutive threes by Butler's A. J. Graves and Bruce Horan cut OSU's lead to five with 1:05 remaining. OSU's Ron Lewis made just one of two free throws with 32 second remaining to put OSU up by six, and Brandon Crone hit yet another three for the Bulldogs to cut OSU's lead to 60-57 with 27 second remaining. Following a missed free throw by OSU's Butler with 22 seconds to go, Graves hit another three with seven seconds remaining to force overtime.

"Give a lot of credit to Butler. They're a great shooting team," said OSU senior center Terence Dials. "We know the were never going to be out of it. They played great tonight. They're all good shooters, and good shooters are going to get some shots to fall. You're not going to pitch a shutout against them."

"I thought it was a nice battle," said Lickliter.

"I think the fans enjoyed it. I think it was well-played basketball."

The 60-60 tie at the end of regulation was the only tie of the game to that point.

Ohio State led throughout the game and was up by as many as 13 in the second half, but miscues by the Buckeyes and tenacious defense by Butler kept the game close. Ohio state was guilty of 19 turnovers against Butler, six of them by guard Ron Lewis and four by center Terence Dials. Butler also came up with five steals.

"The biggest thing was really our lack of attention to detail, really throughout the course of the game," Matta of OSU's turnover woes.

"What was strange about this game was if we could shoot 54% for the year and 42% from three and 82% from the line, I'd be the happiest guy in the world. What it came down to was key turnovers," Matta said.

Butler never led in the game, and could manage just two ties, one at the end of regulation and once in overtime. Though they trailed throughout, they never quit and finally tied the game to send it to overtime.

"I'd rather get beat 12 than 13, and 11 than 12," said Lickliter on his team's tenacity.

"I do think that we're a pretty skilled group, but I don't think we shot it real well tonight, but give them credit, they guard. They knew what we wanted to run and they guarded our schemes, they were really well-prepared. They defended well. I thought in the second half both teams were really guarding. It might have been bad offense, but I don't think so. I think both teams were really guarding," said Lickliter.

Lickliter was obviously disappointed with the loss, but heaped praise on the Buckeyes.

"They made some adjustments (offensively) in the second half," said Lickliter.

"They did some things we hadn't seen them do a whole lot. Their spacing was really good, they were patient, very poised and got the shots they wanted. When you do that, you feel pretty good. I think a lot of offense is spacing and you have to know what you're doing, and I think they take advantage of you. That's hard to always get teams to do, but Thad's team do what they do well, each individual, and that's a credit to his staff."

Though he was not as effusive with praise for his team, Matta thought the win, and the way the game played out, was good for his team.

"I said this team is not real good right now. I've been saying that the whole time. We've got some areas where we've got to get better. We better get there quick with Virginia Tech on Monday night. We're just not as good as we need to be right now. There's a lot of areas that we've got to be better in.

"I can say it because we won the game, I'm glad it happened this way, because this team, one of the biggest challenges we have is to understand the small things. Tonight was a great example for us to learn from and get better."

One of the things they learned was how to win in overtime, something they did not do in the 2004-2005 season.

"It's great to win a game in overtime. Coach Matta said last year we were 0-3 in overtime, so this is a step in the right direction," said Dials.

"Experience is a big thing. I think that's the main reason why we came out on top," Dials said.

Matta had good advice for his team after they blew their lead and were taken into the O.T.

"I talked to them because our guys had a look on their face of shock. I said 'Fellas, you're playing the game you love to play for five more minutes, I'm coaching the game I love to coach for five more minutes, lets win the game, lets go out there and play. There's nothing we can do about what just happened."

Crone led all scorers with 27 points that included nine-of-12 shooting from three point range. Dials led OSU with 24 points. Je'Kel Foster added 18, Butler added 16, Lewis 13. J. J. Sullinger was the game's leading rebounder with 14.

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