Hamilton – How well the Ohio University Southern Campus Trailblazers rebound from Sunday’s loss depends on how well they rebound.

Monday, January 03, 2000

Hamilton – How well the Ohio University Southern Campus Trailblazers rebound from Sunday’s loss depends on how well they rebound. The Trailblazers were outrebounded Sunday in a 93-84 loss to the University of Miami-Hamilton Chiefs.

"Rebounding has been our most consistent area all year, and tonight we didn’t rebound well or block out well. When your point guard almost leads you in rebounding, then something is wrong," Ohio Southern coach Ed Fry said.

"The turnovers didn’t help us, but the rebounding was the key. If you rebound, you can play with anybody. They had a bunch of offensive rebounds and then you end up fouling."

One of OUSC’s problems rebounding was losing leading rebounder Maurice Creel who picked up his fourth rebound early in the second half and fouled out soon after re-entering later in the game.

The Chiefs never led by more than 5 points throughout the game until late when OUSC was forced to foul. Hamilton converted 17-of-19 from the line the second half and 21-of-25 for the game.

Point guard C.. J. Captain had the best game of his career with a game-high 29 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Captain hit 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line.

Momir Gajic had 20 points on an 8-for-11 shooting performance and led the Trailblazers with 10 rebounds. Andrew Stevens scored 17 points and had five rebounds. David Johnson also had five rebounds.

Gabe Falmer led Miami-Hamilton with 23 points, Reggie Moore scored 21, and Brad Reckart 20. Carlos Davis added 12.

Gajic had 14 points and Steven 9 the first half but Miami-Hamilton was able to take a 39-36 lead.

Captain exploded for 23 points the second half and Stevens and Gajic combined for 14 more, but Miami-Hamilton used 15 points by Reckart to add to its lead.

The Trailblazers connected on 24-of-38 shots from 2-point range and 8-of-21 from 3-point land, giving them an overall 32-of-59 from the field for 54 percent.

"Our offense and defense were good, but we gave them too many second chance points in order for us to win," said Fry.

Ohio Southern, 7-12, plays at Ohio-Lancaster Wednesday. The Trailblazers hosts NCAA Division II West Virginia State at 4 p.m. Saturday, and Indiana-East at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Ohio Southern

C. J. Captain 9 2 5-8 29, Momir Gajic 8 0 4-4 20, Andrew Stevens 1 4 3-5 17, Derek Combs 3 1 0-0 9, David Johnson 2 1 0-0 7, Maurice Creel 1 0 0-0 2, Matt Wilson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 8 12-17 84. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Creel. Turnovers: 19.

Miami-Hamilton

Gabe Falmer 9 1 2-4 23, Brad Reckart 5 1 7-7 20, Reggie Moore 4 2 7-8 21, Carlos Davis 4 0 4-5 12, Mark Evers 4 0 1-1 9, Kevin Sowell 1 1 0-0 5, Willie Bach 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 27 6 21-25 93. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

Ohio Southern 36 48 – 84

Miami-Hamilton 39 54 – 93