Bobcat fans hope that win’s a sign of things to come

The Ohio Bobcat men's basketball team finally got back on track with its 93-57 home victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on Saturday afternoon.

After the 'Cats lost four of their last five games and experiencing major issues in losing all three road games so far this season, I was beginning to lose faith in a team that showed some promise by opening the year with six consecutive victories. Though Ohio entered its game against the Hawks tied with Western Michigan for the best record in the Mid-American Conference (7-4), they needed a strong performance on Saturday to right the ship as conference play draws nearer.

The Hawks entered Saturday's contest with an 0-10 record, losing by an average margin of 20 points in the process. With such a poor opponent, it was absolutely crucial that the 'Cats have a good outing in order to build confidence. Their performance was nothing short of spectacular, as six Ohio players scored in double figures, led by guard Walter Offutt's 15 points, en route to the 36-point win.

It was a total team victory, but guard Travis Wilkins, who entered Saturday averaging just 3.4 points per game, was the breakout star after starting guard Nick Kellogg injured his shooting hand during practice last Friday. Although Kellogg played 18 minutes against UMES, he missed all six of his shots from the floor and ended the game scoreless. That's where Wilkins stepped in. As a three-point shooting specialist, Wilkins made four of his seven three-point shots and finished with 14 points.

Considering the successes of guard Tommy Freeman from a couple of years ago, Wilkins was looking like a disappointment early in the season. Both Freeman and Wilkins fit the mold of a pure shooter who spends most of his time behind the three-point arc. While Freeman had been nearly automatic from long-range, Wilkins seemed to be struggling with his shot, making only nine of 23 attempted three-point shots prior to Saturday's game. However, something clicked against the Hawks, as Wilkins put his early-season struggles behind him.

"I go out there every night expecting to have a good night and not to think about the last game I had and dwell on the missed shots I've had," Wilkins said. "I just have to be ready to continue to shoot through it and make open shots."

While the offense was humming,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, the defense was less than stellar. Even though Ohio forced 24 turnovers and held the Hawks to just 57 points, the stats revealed a defense that could still use some improvement. In their first 10 games this season, the Hawks shot a pedestrian 34 percent from the field. That number jumped to 52.5 percent,Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products. including 66.7 percent on threes, against Ohio. The 'Cats have struggled to defend the three-point line all season,High quality stone mosaic tiles. which is a deficiency that has been their undoing in more than one of their four losses this season. Just as in their home game against Oakland on Dec. 8, the Bobcats allowed one player to beat them from deep. This time it was guard Louis Bell, who made six of his eight three-pointers en route to his game-high 20 points. Luckily for Ohio, none of Bell's teammates had similar success.

Even though the Bobcat men still have some improvement to do on the defensive end, their team-oriented offensive play against UMES showed what this team is truly capable of on that end of the floor. They can be a very dangerous team when everyone gets involved,Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. and it only helps when guard D.J. Cooper is not relied upon to carry the offensive load. Against UMES, Cooper finished with just nine points while dishing out a season-high 14 assists as part of team total of 29 that tied the school record set in 1995 and 1998.

The Amateur Community Theater of Rowlett is waiting on the construction of a new performance venue. Their old performance location is being torn down as part of development around the Rowlett DART Rail Station. In the mean time they are living by the old expression ‘the show must go on’ and taking their skills on the road.

“My family decided to purchase a building near the clock tower in downtown to relocate our business to. Part of the building will be our business and another part will be a small event place that people can rent out. We will use this part of the building to host the performances of the theater in the future,” said Suzan Fulton, who runs the theater.

Until the new theater is completed, the group is taking its services on the road and branching out to neighboring communities to continue to show off their talents. The group recently performed a series of radio show reenactments at a couple of nursing home and assisted living facilities in Mesquite and Rowlett.

“We did a couple of radio shows this past Saturday at the Christian Care Center in Mesquite and at the Senior Care Center in Rowlett. When we do the radio shows we are trying to bring a show from the time period of most of the series, the 1940s and 1950s. This time we chose some stuff from the George Burns, George Allen and Abbott and Costello. It was really funny. One of the things we did was a take-off of the old Abbott and Costello Who’s on First skit. This one involved taking vitamins,” Fulton said.

Fulton said the group has been doing the radio shows at nursing homes and assisted care facilities for the past several years during the holidays.

“This is just something we felt in our hearts would be something fun and rewarding to do,” Fulton said. “The hardest thing about doing the shows is sometimes we don’t know if they are enjoying it until after because they are real quiet. I had a geriatric doctor tell me once not to expect them to show much emotion. I decided to ask a couple if the music was too loud and I looked down and this one man was tapping his foot. I realized that you can tell by little things that they were enjoying it.”

ACTOR will be traveling around the area next year and performing The Very Great Grandson of Sherlock Holmes by Bill Majeski. The play focuses on a decedent of Sherlock Holmes that is trying to solve a murder and live up to the name of Sherlock Holmes.

The 2012 holiday season has already seen several thieves from across the country steal Christmas decorations from peoples' lawns. On Dec. 2, 2012, Bill and Rosemarie Rush came home to find that almost $400 worth of Christmas decorations had been stolen from the lawn of their San Fernando Valley, Calif.Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. home. Among the items stolen were six inflatable decorations and around a dozen plastic candy canes. Two days later, this time in Ann Arbor, Mich., two men stole a combined $1,000 worth of Christmas decorations from seven different homes during the late-night and early-morning hours.

Again, a mere two days later, a Hialeah, Fla. family reported that its inflatable Christmas decorations were also stolen off its lawn. The inflatable decorations included Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Mickey Mouse and a snowman and were worth just over $100. Three days later, on Dec. 8, 2012, the Aguirre family of Visalia, Calif. reported that its homemade Christmas ornaments were stolen from its lawn.