West Virginia can't hold on falling 89-88 to Ohio State in double overtime
West Virginia couldn’t hold onto a 16-point second half lead and fell Ohio State 89-88 in double overtime in the Cleveland Hoops Showdown Saturday night.
The Mountaineers fell to 8-4 season and let another chance at a resume building win slip through their fingers.
The Mountaineers went with the same starting five of point guard Jasper Floyd, guard Honor Huff, guard Treysen Eaglestaff, forward Brenen Lorient and center Harlan Obioha.
Huff led the Mountaineers with 24 points while Lorient had 18 points, Chance Moore had 15 points and Floyd had 14 points.
Floyd got the scoring started with a three-pointer almost 1:30 into the game and the next basket wouldn’t come until the 16:30 mark when Ohio State tied things up. The two teams would then exchange baskets before a Lorient three put the Mountaineers ahead 8-5.
The Buckeyes would surge ahead on four consecutive free throws 9-8 at the 13:23 mark of the first half. And West Virginia trailed 14-11 with 11:50 left in the first half before Floyd tied things up with a three.
The two teams continued to see-saw the lead as Eaglestaff would make a free throw to push the Mountaineers ahead 20-19 with under seven left to play. A pair of threes by Lorient and Eaglestaff gave West Virginia a 28-19 lead their largest of the first half at the time.
Huff would nail a three on the final possession before half and West Virginia would take their largest lead of the game into halftime at 37-27.
Lorient would score on a dunk on the first possession of the second half to take a 12-point edge, but Ohio State would answer on the other end. The Mountaineers would keep the edge at around 10 until Huff would knock down a three-pointer to push them ahead 48-35 and then Jackson Fields would can one of his own forcing Ohio State to take a timeout trailing 51-35.
Ohio State would then use a 6-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to just 51-41 forcing head coach Ross Hodge to then take a timeout of his own. Obioha would end the run with a basket out of the timeout, but Ohio State would continue their charge with a basket and a foul on the other end.
And the Buckeyes cut the deficit to 55-50 with just 8:51 left and Ohio State continued to surge cutting the lead to just three points with 7:30 remaining. However, a technical foul on the Ohio State and some timely baskets allowed the Mountaineers to take a 62-55 lead and resize some momentum.
But the Buckeyes wouldn’t go away cutting the lead to just 63-61 with just under three minutes left before Huff would again hit a three to push the edge out to five. Ohio State trimmed the deficit again to just 66-65 with 1:48 left in the game.
The Buckeyes would then take a 68-66 lead on a three pointer as the shot clock was expiring and then Fields would score on the other end to tie the game at 68 and it would head to overtime.
Huff would open overtime with a three and Ohio State would answer back with a quick basket to make it 71-70 with 3:15 remaining in the half. Then the Buckeyes would recapture the lead on a pair of free throws before Huff would hit a runner to recapture a 73-72 edge.
The Buckeyes again would answer to move back ahead 74-73 and Huff would hit a free throw to tie the game at 74. On the next possession, Ohio State would score again on a put back to go ahead 76-74 before again Huff answered with a three to put the Mountaineers ahead 77-76.
A foul would give Ohio State free throws and they connected on one to tie the game at 77 giving the Mountaineers the ball with 15.4 left but the basket wouldn’t go down sending the game to a second overtime.
Moore would hit a pair of free throws to open the scoring in double overtime but Ohio State would match them on the other end of the floor with two of their own. Fields would connect on a layup on an assist from Huff but again Ohio State would score to tie the game at 81.
Floyd would then nail two free throws but Ohio State again matched with a dunk to keep the score tied at 83. The Buckeyes then moved ahead 85-83 and out of a timeout Huff passed the ball to Lorient who nailed an open three to move ahead 86-85. Two free throws gave Ohio State the 87-86 lead with 26.1 left but again Huff would answer with a jumper to push the Mountaineers back out front 88-87 with 12.3 left.
Again, Ohio State found a way to answer with a basket and took an 89-88 lead with just 3.6 left and the Mountaineers wouldn’t get a shot off on their final possession.
The Mountaineers will next close the non-conference schedule inside the Hope Coliseum against Mississippi Valley State Dec. 22.
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