For those unable to attend and unfamiliar with the opposition, Westminster (4-9 overall) plays a style of basketball that is designed to force lots of turnovers on the defensive end with constant double teaming and pressure. On the offensive end they look for open three-pointers and just try to out-score its opponent.
Ohlson put on a clinic on how to beat this system making passes that were magical. In the first half he carved up the Titan pressure with nine assists and eventually finished with a career-high tying 11 helpers after WC denied him the ball and forced him to pass before reaching half court in the second half.
A 21-18 game at the 12:55 mark of the first half turned ugly as back-to-back runs by the Bulldogs opened up a 21-point lead with 2:33 to go in the opening frame. The first spurt was a 13-5 run that started with a trey from junior Steve Kriczky and ended with consecutive lay-ups from sophomore Phil Stricker.
The second run was started with a full court pass by Ohlson that whistled by a defender’s ear and into senior Drew Christman’s hands for an easy lay-up. Four minutes later fellow senior Mike Zinn hit his second three-pointer of the game, off another pass from Ohlson, and DSU (8-3 overall) had pushed a 40-29 lead into a 51-30 lead.
The second half saw the Bulldogs continue to attack with the lead swelling to a game-high 31 points, 86-55, with 10:22 to play. A few late three-pointers by sophomore Nick Adams cut the lead down to as many as 16 points but the outcome was never in doubt and ended with DeSales winning its fifth straight.
The Bulldogs shot 62.2 percent from the field and committed just 19 turnovers after WC had entered the game forcing 25 each contest. DSU also out-rebounded the Titans, 51-31. Westminster attempted 61 three-pointers and just 19 two-pointers. The Titans converted on 22 treys, 36.1 percent.
In addition to his 11 assists, Ohlson added nine points and a team-high three steals. Stricker recorded his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Christman tallied 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Kriczky came off the bench to score 15 points and hand out four assists and freshman Mike Myers scored a season-high 12 points in the win.
Adams finished with a game-high 27 points, including eight treys, seven in the second half. Chauncey Whitlow totaled 17 points, Craig Hannon was limited to 16 points after scoring 45 in the Titan’s last game and Jake Zatchok totaled 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Titans.