OHIO-WESTERN MICHIGAN QUOTES
Western Michigan guard Shawntes Gary
(On the game) "We just wanted to focus on coming out with great energy today and I think we did that both defensively and offensively. The last couple of games we got away from running in transition, so we wanted to come out and push the ball and get some easy buckets to get us going a little bit."
(On Donald Lawson coming back) "It's great. He didn't get as many minutes as he usually would because he's just getting back into it. Before he went out he was rebounding the ball great, he was doing well offensively and blocking shots. It was real big to have him back tonight."
Western Michigan guard David Kool
(On the win) "It was exciting for us. It's no secret we've been going through a tough stretch the last two weeks. We've just kept working hard in practice and every day trying to get better. It was nice to come out here and get some results tonight."
(On Donald Lawson coming back) "It's real nice to have (Donald) back. He does such a great job for us, especially the little things most people don't see. He's a great help-side defender, he does a great job on the ball in the post, he's so physical. Another thing he does for me personally is he sets killer screens. It just opens up the floor so much better.
"Another great thing for us is having him back in practice beating up on the other guys so they get it each and every day and know what real college basketball is about."
Western Michigan center Donald Lawson
(On coming back) "Just to be able to help (my teammates) out and not be on the sideline coaching, it's big.
"The first half I was a little winded, but I had to keep running hard because that's the only way I'll get back into shape, not being lazy and jogging up and down the court.
"In practice it was no contact. It was a big difference to bang against tough guys."
Ohio head coach John Groce
(On the game) "The bottom line in this one, over the course of 40 minutes, I felt like Western Michigan was the tougher team. They were the most intelligent team over those 40 minutes. Over the course of 40 minutes, the margin of error in college basketball is so small this time of year, I felt like they had the upper hand in those two areas over the 40 minutes. I thought they were hungry. I thought they were physical and obviously Hawk had those guys ready to play tonight and they did a terrific job."
Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins
(On the game) "I thought both teams played well. From a fan's standpoint it was probably a nice game to watch. Both teams shot the ball well tonight. For a while everybody was kind of trading punches back-and-forth in the second half. Thank goodness we had extended out to a little bit of a lead, but we couldn't get it out there much further because they kept hitting shots. We were able to knock down some free throws and we hit some key shots. Normally, we've got to win the ball game defensively. Tonight, when we got out to a decent lead we won the ball game offensively. Certainly having another big body in Donald makes a difference for us. It's a physical presence and it allows (Whitfield) and LaMarcus to play hard and if they get into foul trouble there is another body to put in there."
(On Donald Lawson coming back) "He's our one big guy who has experience. Donald's presence isn't just 6-9, 245. Donald's presence is also vocal. He's a very good communicator to our guards. Our guards feel a lot better out there because he will call out screens. He talks extremely well defensively, offensively. He makes everybody be accountable and the other thing we saw out of Donald tonight was that in 19 minutes he was able to get what he had been averaging."
(On Demetrius Ward) "Demetrius has been coming on strong. He's very aggressive, he's very comfortable on the floor. He's playing with reckless abandon and very free out there right now. It's allowed him to be creative and be himself. He's earned it. He's produced and the bottom line is production. He goes out on the floor and it's not just points and rebounds. He's also defensively in the right spot, he rebounds the ball well and offensively he executes."
