Tillman leads Ohio past Kent

His free throws and dunk in the closing seconds held off the Flashes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATHENS, Ohio — Jerome Tillman scored 16 points, including a pair of insurance free throws and a dunk in the closing seconds, to lead Ohio to a 71-65 win over Kent State on Sunday.

Ohio (8-6, 1-0 Mid-American) trailed at halftime and in the early minutes of the second period but went in front for good on Tillman’s 3-pointer with 14:32 remaining.

The Bobcats took a 10-point lead on Tommy Freeman’s jumper with 4:24 left, but Kent State (7-8, 0-1) rallied, with Chris Singletary’s layup with 34 seconds left cutting Ohio’s lead to 67-65.

Singletary missed a follow-up free throw, and Tillman was fouled when he grabbed the rebound. His two free throws gave the Bobcats a 69-65 lead, and Kent State’s Al Fisher and Tyree Evans missed several 3-point attempts before Tillman’s dunk with nine seconds left.

Freeman scored 18 points and Justin Orr added 10 for Ohio.

Evans had 21 points, Fisher added 19 and Singletary had 13 for Kent State.

No. 16 Xavier 86, Fordham 60

NEW YORK — B.J. Raymond scored 18 points to lead six Xavier players in double figures.

It was the fourth straight victory for Xavier (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10), which shot a season-best 53.8 percent from the field (28-for-52) and finished with a 45-29 rebound advantage.

Derrick Brown had 14 points, Jason Love 13, Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford had 11 each and C.J. Anderson added 10 for the Musketeers.