His mom still calls him Kenneth, but the rest of us know him simply as KVK.
Kenneth van Kempen and his Ohio Bobcat teammates enjoyed a victory in their final regular season game and KVK’s last home contest, defeating the Bowling Green Falcons 82-60 in front of the 6,792 fans who filled the Convocation Center on Senior Night.
Tommy Freeman was very blunt about his game-winning shot.
“Honestly, I thought it was off when I let it go. It didn’t feel good leaving my hands. But I’m glad that I was wrong.”
Seeing as the bench has struggled all season long, the ‘Cats (15-13, 5-8 MAC) looked as if they would struggle just to stay in the game; however, the bench came through in a big way, outscoring the starters 44-20 and the Raiders’ bench 44-6 to lead the Bobcats to a 64-59 victory at their ESPNU BracketBuster game.
The up-and-down season of DeVaughn Washington and the Ohio Bobcats took a positive turn Thursday night in front of 4,051 fans at the Convocation Center. The mercurial forward scored 24 points complete with a few of his highlight reel finishes in Ohio’s 89-76 victory over the Chippewas of Central Michigan.
Coming off a disappointing road trip in which they lost to Eastern Michigan and needed overtime to beat 3-21 Toledo, the Ohio Bobcats (13-11, 4-6 MAC) finally played 60 full minutes, toppling Western Michigan 90-74.
After a mid-season stretch in which they won 15 consecutive games, the third-ranked Ohio Bobcats had won just three of their past nine games before hosting a two-game series with the fifth-ranked Cyclones of Iowa State.
After shooting 57 percent from the field in the first half, the Ohio Bobcats looked to cruise to their third straight victory. Ball State had other ideas, storming back in the second half and overtime to upend the ‘Cats, 67-66.
A third period scoring outburst was the difference in Ohio’s 3-1 victory over Oakland in front of a standing room only crowd at Bird Arena Saturday night. The win ended a four-game losing skid for the Bobcats, who are now 26-7 on the year.
With five minutes left before tip-off, freshman point guard D.J. Cooper was nowhere to be found. Already without one starter because of DeVaughn Washington’s indefinite suspension, the ‘Cats manufactured a little luck—and their best effort of the season.
As one of the few veterans on Ohio’s team, junior guard Armon Bassett reiterated the adage “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” After Ohio was outscored 50-30 in the second half, it’s hard to argue with him.
It’s been said that “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Unfortunately for the Ohio Bobcats, they’re playing basketball.
In what looked to be an early blowout, the Ohio Bobcats (9-6, 0-1 MAC) turned their play around in the second half only to lose to Kent State (10-5, 1-0) in the final seconds. The Bobcats beat IUPUI on Wednesday with a last-second shot, but lost to the Golden Flashes , 62-60, in a game that featured a similar ending.
After an embarrassing 68-66 home loss to Austin Peay on Dec. 9, the Ohio Bobcats (7-3) have been men on a mission.
Coming into Wednesday night’s game at the Convocation Center, Illinois State (7-2) was ranked 7th in collegeinsider.com’s mid-major rankings. Neither their ranking nor star guard Osiris Eldridge helped the Redbirds as Ohio (6-3) cruised to their 30th non-conference home win in 31 tries, 75-57.
It has been 41 years since the Ohio Bobcats (9-4, 7-2 MAC) won the Mid-American Conference, by far the longest streak in the conference. After Friday’s MAC Championship game, it will be at least another year before the drought is over in Athens.
With the MAC East Championship on the line, Senior Day at Peden Stadium had even larger implications than normal. Snowflakes fell during warm-ups, but neither the cold weather nor the national audience on ESPNU could stop the Ohio Bobcats’ red-hot offense, who clinched a berth in the MAC Championship with a 35-17 win over Temple.