Coach Hunter Earns 500th Career Win

ATHENS, Ohio (January 23, 2001) -- Ohio Basketball Head Coach Larry Hunter earned his 500th career victory, giving him a career record of 500-219 in his 25th season. He is 195-143 in his 12th season at Ohio. Along with coach Hunter's milestone also comes an impressive showing from the Bobcats in the Jan. 23 game. Ohio has won eight of its last 10 games, 91 points is the most for the Bobcats in eight games, and 12 Bobcats scored in the game, the most all season.

Sophomore, Steve Esterkamp, paced the Bobcats with 16 points, all in the first half. Ohio junior, Patrick Flomo, had 14 points and six rebounds, while shooting 5-of-5 from the field. He has scored double figures in all three of his career contests against NIU. Flomo also claimed sole possession of third on Ohio's career blocked shots charts with a pair tonight to give him 123 in his career, passing current Bobcat assistant coach John Rhodes (121).

Postgame Quotes

Ohio Head Coach Larry Hunter: "I thought the first couple of minutes we weren't in a great mindset, but we worked our way into it. For the second game in a row, I thought our press made the difference. And our bench did a good job. The players on the floor now believe that they can work hard at both ends, then get a quick blow without us losing anything.

(on press) "I thought we kept them off balance all night. We used some defenses that kept them off guard and out of their flow. That's what it did. The last two years we have pressed as consistently as much as anyone in the league. "We identified (Leon) Rogers and (Mike) Brown as their key shooters and we did a good job containing them. We fought through the screens they set for him and got a hand in their faces.

(on the 30-4 run after trailing 11-5) "I was concerned that they had 11 points in the first 2 minutes. I told them to start playing defense and reminded them of the Western Michigan loss.

(on Steve Esterkamp's play) "Steve had a great 1st half shooting, but he also had rebounds, assists and did some other things. He's becoming a pretty good basketball player.

(on his 500th win as a collegiate head coach) "My approach has been simple: Arrive early, work late and chop wood all day long. I've have been fortunate to be surrounded by some great people. And I've worked at two great institutions, Wittenberg and Ohio. Add all those things together over 20 years and you start to have a small pile of wood."

Sophomore guard, Steve Esterkamp: (on his shooting night) "It felt pretty good right from the start I told the guys to get me the ball because everything was going in. I even felt good at the shootaround this afternoon. We need to start putting our runs together and then hold on to them. Now, we just keep going back to whoever is hot. Tonight, that was me.

(on Coach Hunter's 500th win) "There were a couple of times last night where we thought about getting 500 for coach tonight. It was in the back of our minds tonight, but we were focusing more about getting another win. We didn't really talk about it much today. "We feel confident at home. We have put together back-to-back 20-point wins so we feel good."

Junior center, Patrick Flomo: "They started 11-5 because they came out more focused. We knew we needed to pick up our defense. It was a team thing: we all made an effort not to let them score.

(on press) "It's fun, but its also tiring, to be honest. AJ (Anthony Jones) and I are up front, so we just try to harass everyone as much as possible. It's our job to force them into bad decisions."

Northern Illinois Interim Coach, Andy Greer: "Going into the game, I thought the key was being able to handle their pressure. I really like Ohio's team; they are the best team that I have seen in conference play thus far. For us to be successful we have to shoot well and we didn't tonight. But credit their defense. When you go on the road, you have to play well."