Dale Bonner made a contested 3-pointer in the final second as Ohio State ended a 17-game road losing streak by defeating Michigan State, 60-57, at East Lansing, Mich., on Sunday afternoon in Big Ten play.
Devin Royal had 14 points for Ohio State (16-12, 6-11 Big Ten) and Roddy Gayle Jr. supplied 12 points and eight rebounds and Bruce Thornton added 11 points. Bonner had just three points before his decisive corner 3-pointer.
Malik Hall led Michigan State (17-11, 9-8) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Tyson Walker added 12 points.
Ohio State’s win was the second under interim coach Jake Diebler. The Buckeyes upset Purdue in Diebler’s debut.
Points were hard to come by during most of the first half. Walker scored his first points in the final minute, knocking down a 3-pointer to give his club a 30-20 lead. After Thornton hit two free throws, Walker made a layup just before the halftime buzzer sounded to give his team a 32-22 advantage.
The Spartans’ lead fluctuated between eight and 12 points until Royal’s layup made it 42-36. A 6-0 Spartans’ spurt doubled the lead and it was still 12 at 50-38 after Walker made a jumper with 11:05 to play.
The Buckeyes scored the next six points, including four from Royal. Ohio State cut the deficit to one, 52-51, with six minutes left on a three-point play from Zed Key and a field goal from Felix Okpara.
Hall knocked down a jumper to nudge Michigan State’s lead to three. Two free throws by Gayle with 2:08 left brought Ohio State within one again.
Walker answered with a layup. Royal scored inside after a Buckeyes timeout. They called another after a Bonner steal.
Gayle was fouled with 11.9 seconds left and made both free throws to give Ohio State a 57-56 lead. Walker split two free throws to tie it with 6.4 seconds remaining.
The ball was then inbounded to Thornton, who passed it to Bonner for the game-winner with 0.2 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
