The 8th-ranked Maryland Terrapins earned a hard fought road win against the pesky Ohio State Buckeyes, 66-61 at Value City Arena.
The turning point came when Maryland star guard Melo Trimble sank a deep three-pointer in front of his bench to give his team a 60-55 lead with 2:06 to go in the game.
From there, the Buckeyes fouled to extend the game and even cut the Terrapins (19-3, 8-2 Big Ten) lead to 64-61 on a three-pointer with 5.9 seconds to go.
Trimble then calmly sank two free throws to secure the victory and the season sweep of the Buckeyes. He led his team with 20 points, four assists and one steal.
Senior Jake Layman had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and had a monster alley-oop dunk in the second half from Rasheed Sulaimon.
The Terp’s Robert Carter Jr. and Diamond Stone each chipped in with 10 points and combined to corral 15 rebounds.
Inspired by the home crowd, the Buckeyes jumped out to a 20-13 lead with 12:36 to go in the first half. Maryland rallied and tied the game 27-27 on a Trimble 3-pointer with 7:32 to go before halftime.
Maryland ended the half on a 10-4 run to lead 37-31 at the break.
Neither team shot well in the second half as the defensive intensity picked up and the score was only 46-42 with 9:47 to play in the game. The contest remained close until Trimble gave the Terrapin’s some breathing room by sinking that crucial three-pointer to give his team a five point advantage and set up the exciting finish.
The Terrapins won the rebounding battle 41-35, although the Buckeyes collected 13 offensive rebounds which led to a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points.
Maryland shot 42 percent from the field including going 4 for 16 from thee-point range. The Buckeyes shot 37 percent from the field including going 5 for 15 from beyond the arc.
Maryland was 20-23 from the free throw line including hitting 15 of 17 in the second half. Ohio State shot 14 for 24 from the charity stripe.
Ohio State was led in scoring by Jae’Sean Tate who scored 16 points, snagged five rebounds had three assists and two steals. Marc Loving chipped in with nine points and six rebounds. Keita Bates-Diop had eight points and six rebounds in a losing effort for the (14-9, 6-4) Buckeyes.
