Roddy Gayle Jr. scores 32, Ohio State beats WVU 78-75 in OT at Legends of Basketball

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Bruce Thornton's dagger 3 secures the OT win for Ohio State

Bruce Thornton drills the dagger 3-pointer to secure the overtime win for the Buckeyes.

Dec 31, 2023, 03:04 am

CLEVELAND -- — Roddy Gayle Jr. scored a career-high 32 points, Jamison Battle added 17 points and nine rebounds and Ohio State held on to beat West Virginia 78-75in overtime Saturday night at the Legends of Basketball Showcase.

Gayle made 11 of 21 from the field, 7 of 10 from the free-throw line and finished with seven rebounds and six assists. Bruce Thornton scored six of his 11 points after regulation for Ohio State (11-2).

Battle hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring in OT and, after RaeQuan Battle made a tip-in for the Mountaineers on the other end, Gayle sank another 3 to give Ohio State a 71-67 lead with 3:25 to play. RaeQuan Battle threw down a dunk, but Bruce Thornton scored all the Buckeyes' points in a 6-2 spurt that gave them a six-point lead with two minutes remaining.

West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert was called for a technical foul for arguing a no-call on a missed 3-point shot by RaeQuan Battle. After Gayle missed both free throws, Battle stole the ball and went the other way for a dunk to make it 78-75 with 50 seconds remaining. Gayle missed a 3, Evan Mahaffey grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled but went 0 for 2 from the free-throw line. WVU's Kerr Kriisa missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds to play and the Buckeyes held on.

RaeQuan Battle, who picked up two early fouls and played just seven first-half minutes, led West Virginia (5-8) with 24 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Noah Farrakhan scored 19 points and Quinn Slazinski finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Farrakhan missed a 3-point shot but Pat Suemnick grabbed the offensive rebound and his putback cut West Virginia's deficit to 65-63 with 1:14 to play. Jamison Battle missed a clean look from 3 on the other end and Farrakhan found Suemnick for a layup to tie it with 29 second left. The Buckeyes moved the ball to the front court and called its final timeout with 18 remaining before Gayle left a contested fade-away jumper as time in regulation expired.

Ohio State returns to Big Ten play on Wednesday when the Buckeyes play host to Rutgers. West Virginia plays its first true road contest of the season on Jan. 6, when the Mountaineers open their Big 12 slate at No. 3 Houston.

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