Buckeyes Suffer First Setback of the Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/28/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 28, 1998
Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Vanderbilt’s Dan Langhi and Greg LaPointe hit four crucial free throws in overtime Saturday as the Commodores won 92-86 and handed Ohio State its first loss of the season.
Trailing 88-86 with 22.1 seconds left, Scoonie Penn of Ohio State (6-1) was called for traveling. That forced Penn to foul LaPointe, who hit two from the line with 20 seconds left to give Vanderbilt (6-1) a 90-86 lead.
Penn missed a 3-pointer on Ohio State’s next possession, and fouled Langhi with two seconds left. Langhi made good on two free throws to put the game out of reach.
Vanderbilt squandered a 66-57 lead with 7:32 remaining in regulation play, and Ohio State tied the score 80-80 with four seconds left on Ken Johnson’s tip-in.
After trailing 7-2 in the first three minutes of the game, Vanderbilt rallied to take an 11-9 lead on Sam Howard’s 3-pointer at 13:32. The Commodores never trailed again.
Vanderbilt, facing a full-court press from the Buckeyes for most of the half, slowly pulled away and built a 39-25 lead, their largest of the game, on Howard’s 3-pointer with 2:37 remaining.
The Buckeyes cut the lead at halftime to 39-31.
Howard scored 22 points for Vanderbilt. LaPointe scored 18, and Langhi added had 14 points and 17 rebounds. Vince Ford scored 12, and Deandre Moore added 10.
For the Buckeyes, Penn scored 23. Johnson had 15, and Michael Redd added 10.
