The Buckeyes forced overtime, but the Mountaineers lost in the closing seconds.
Cleveland: In the Legends of Basketball Showcase on Saturday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers (5-8) suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2) by a score of 78-75.
The game was started by a straightaway three from West Virginia guard RaeQuan Battle, but the Mountaineers only made one of their next nine field goals as Ohio State embarked on a 16-3 run at the 11:55 mark of the first half to take a 16-6 lead.
The Mountaineers fell behind by as many as 14 points in the first half, but with 2:30 remaining in the half, an 11-0 rally spearheaded by guard Noah Farrakhan and forward Quinn Slazinski’s combined nine points got the team within three points.
With just over a minute remaining in the first half, Mountaineer point guard Kerr Kriisa drained a three from the right wing to tie the game at 26. However, guard Bruce Thornton drove down the left side of the lane for a contested lay-in, putting the Buckeyes up two, 28-26, just before the half as Ohio State took the two-point lead at the half.
Early in the second half, the Buckeyes went on a 7-0 run that increased their lead to 10, but at 11:39 of the half, Farrakhan finished the run with a three from the right side and a hard turnaround jumper to cap off a 10-2 WVU run that pulled them within two, 42-40.
In just five minutes of play, Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 10 of his X points in the second half, bringing the Buckeye advantage back to nine. But with 4:22 left in the game, West Virginia player Akok Akok scored on a second-chance opportunity, an alley-oop to Battle, a bucket, and a foul by Pat Suemnick to bring the margin back to three.
With 29 seconds left, Pat Suemnick forced overtime with a goal from Farrakhan that drew the game at 65.
In the first minute of overtime, Gayle and forward Jamison Battle each made two three-pointers, but RaeQuan Battle’s two offensive putbacks kept the Mountaineers within two.
With just over two minutes remaining, Bruce Thornton made a three-pointer to put the Buckeyes ahead three. However, Thornton was fouled by Kriisa during a loose ball, which put him at the foul line. Ohio State was given a timeout after failing to make the second free throw, and both teams were vying for the ball with the Buckeyes leading by six points.
After RaeQuan Battle dunk on a fastbreak, West Virginia narrowed the lead back to three. The Buckeyes then grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock to win 78-75 after Kriisa missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds left.
