Ohio State University defeated the University of Maine men’s basketball team on Wednesday night 95-61 in Columbus, Ohio.
The Black Bears move to 6-6 and will prepare for Harvard University at home on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at the Cross Insurance Center, while 25th-ranked Ohio State moves to 8-3 on the season.
UMaine battled early in the uphill game against the Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, trailing 18-13 with 14:35 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Gedi Juozapaitis.
A layup by Ohio State’s Felix Okpara made it a 28-18 game with 10:12 to play in the first half and from that point on UMaine wasn’t able to get the deficit back to single digits.
Ohio State led 47-26 at the half and continued to pour it on in the second half.
UMaine had a 10-4 run in the middle of the second half to cut the deficit to 62-40 with six points coming from Juozapaitis, but the Buckeyes were too much for the Black Bears on Wednesday.
Kellen Tynes led UMaine with 19 points and tied Ohio State’s Brice Sensabaugh for the game lead in scoring. Juozapaitis poured in 16 of his own while Peter Filipovity scored eight points.
Tynes also had three steals on the night. Heading into the game on Wednesday, Tynes was second in the NCAA in steals per game (3.18) and in total steals (35).
Justice Sueing added 15 points for Ohio State, while Zed Key added 14 and Bruce Thornton 11.