Special to The Tribune

COAL GROVE - In his pre-game talk with his basketball team, Ohio University Southern coach Ron Reed asked his players if they were competitors enough to challenge a Virginia Southern squad nearly everyone deemed better than the Trailblazers.

After 40 minutes of basketball, Reed received his answer as Ohio Southern upset the Knights, 88-78, at Coal Grove High School.

"That's being a competitor," Reed told his team after the game. "We kept coming back. We were active on defense. Nobody let anybody down."

Southern Virginia (9-12) has a losing record, but plays a difficult schedule. The Knights also featured a more veteran team than did the Blazers and had a distinct advantage in height and depth. None of that mattered in the end.

Even Southern Virginia coach Don Chamberlain complimented OUS (10-10).

"Ohio Southern played really well," Chamberlain said. "They played hard and I was impressed by that. They wanted it more than we did."

The lead changed seven times in the first half. The Blazers, winners of three straight, never trailed by more than two and built the lead to as large as 13 points before the Knights rallied to take a 36-35 lead with 2:10 left before halftime.

Cory Evans, a 6-foot-4 freshman, scored seven consecutive points and 11 overall in the first half to bring Virginia Southern back. Gene Cotton hit two free throws, though, with 33 seconds left in the first half to give the Blazers a 39-38 lead at intermission.

Ohio Southern started quickly in the second half, building the lead to 60-47 on a basket by former Rock Hill High School standout Zach Mullins with 12:04 to play.

Southern Virginia came back again, cutting the lead to as few as 6 points, but the Blazers didn't fold. Former Green High star Aaron Patten's 2-pointer, followed by a 3-pointer, built the lead to 77-62 with 4:17 left. Southern Virginia never pulled closer than within 8 the rest of the way.

The Blazers held Evans to four second-half points and to just two shots from the floor.

"Our guys did a really nice job," Reed said. "Rickie McDonie did what we needed on defense. Zach Mullins was 10-for-10 on free throws. One of the keys was free throws."

Indeed. Each team made 28 field goals. The Blazers, though, went 22-for-29 from the free throw line, while Southern Virginia went 15-for-20. Ohio Southern also hit 10 3-pointers, while the Knights hit seven.

Cotton led Ohio Southern with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Mullins scored a career-high 20 points. Derek Withrow scored 17 points and Patten added 12 as the Blazers overcame the loss of guards Greg Mauk, who suffered a lacerated palm, and Sean Mullins, who is recovering from a back injury suffered in an automobile accident.

Brett Schroeder led Southern Virginia with 21 points.

Southern Virginia

(78)

Schroeder 7-13 3-8 4-6 21, Sargent 2-3 1-1 0-0 5, Otis 3-10 3-5 2-2 8, Johnson 2-7 0-1 1-2 5, Baidge 1-2 0-1 0-0 2, Evans 6-13 1-3 2-2 15, Worley 1-7 0-3 2-2 4, Herrera 0-1 0-0 1-2 1, Faumuina 2-2 0-0 0-0 4, Mann 4-7 0-0 3-4 11. Totals: 28-65 7-122 15-20 78.

Ohio Southern

(88)

Withrow 7-14 3-9 0-0 17, Mauk 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Patten 4-11 3-8 1-2 12, Hudson 0-3 0-2 2-3 2, Cotton 7-15 3-3 7-10 24, Pennington 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, McDonie 1-2 0-0 1-2 3, Smith 3-7 1-2 1-2 8, Z. Mullins 5-9 0-0 10-10 20.

Haltime: OUS 39, SVU 38. Rebounds: SVU 41 (Evans 7), OUS 36 (Cotton 11). Team rebounds: SVU 8, OUS 1. Deadball rebounds: SVU 4, OUS 3. Turnovers: SVU 19, OUS 14. Steals: SVU 8 (Johnson 2), OUS 12 (Withrow 5). Blocked shots: SVU 3 (Mann 2), OUS 2 (Pennington, McDonie). Fouls: SVU 23, OUS 15. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.