Last Second Shot Sinks Buckeyes – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/5/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 5, 1998
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – Freshman Justin Hall drove past three defenders and hit a layup with 5.7 seconds left to give Toledo 64-63 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.
Toledo (6-0) led throughout most of the game and held a 62-58 advantage with 2:02 remaining before Ohio State (6-2) made a furious rally.
The Buckeyes’ Brian Brown stole an inbounds pass with 20.1 seconds left to give Ohio State a 63-62 lead.
Hall then drove the length off the floor for the winning shot.
Ohio State’s Sconnie Penn missed a shot in the lane with two seconds left and Michael Redd’s tip-in was off the mark – setting off a wild celebration in front of a standing-room only crowd of 9,228 – the fourth-largest at Savage Hall.
Clayton Burch led Toledo with 19 points and Greg Stempin added 15 and led the Rockets down the stretch in the second half.
Hall – who was suspended the Rockets’ last game against Mississippi Valley State for violating team rules – came off the bench and finished with eight points.
Sconnie Penn had 24 points to lead Ohio State. Redd added 16 for the Buckeyes, who struggled to find open shots against a tough Toledo man-to-man defense.
The Rockets led 36-25 at the half, but Penn sparked Ohio State’s first comeback with a pair of 3-pointers that pulled the Buckeyes to within 38-34 with 15:42 to play.
But Toledo maintained its composure and rebuilt its lead to 57-51 on Albert Wilson’s free throw with 7:06. The Rockets kept a five-point lead until the final two minutes.
The first half belonged to the Rockets thanks to Burch, who came into the game averaging six points a game. He hit his first six shots of the game, including four 3-pointers, and finished the half with 16 points.
The Buckeyes closed to within 25-21 on Will Dudley’s dunk with 6:04 left in the first half, but the Rockets then closed out the half on an 11-4 run. Stempin’s two free throws gave Toledo its largest lead of the half at 36-25 with 30 seconds left.
Penn and Redd had all but six of Ohio State’s 25 points in the first half.
Ohio State also turned the ball over 11 times in the first half.
Former Ohio State coach Randy Ayers scheduled the game against Toledo to allow Neshaun Coleman and former teammate Jermaine Tate to play in their hometown. But Tate was kicked off the team by coach Jim O’Brien last year and transferred to Cincinnati.
Coleman played only 6 minutes and didn’t score in his return to Toledo.
Ohio State’s loss denied coach O’Brien his 250th coaching victory. He has a 249-241 record in his 17-year career. He previously coached at St. Bonaventure and Boston College before coming to Ohio State last season.
