Tommy Freeman found his spot in the corner and made William and Mary pay.

Freeman hit four 3-point field goals, including three from the corner, and had 18 points as Ohio defeated the Indians 74-55 Sunday to ensure Ohio coach John Groce's debut was a successful one.

"He's the one truly great shooter on this team," William and Mary coach Tony Shaver said of Freeman. "He's so important to them because you have to play him and that opens up the inside."

With Jerome Tillman struggling to find his shot inside early, Freeman helped from the outside.

"He really stepped up," Tillman said of Freeman. "Tommy is a guy who will do whatever he needs to do to win."

Freeman sparked a 12-2 rally at the beginning of the second half that gave Ohio breathing room.

With the teams deadlocked at 30, Freeman hit a shot just inside the arc on a rare two-point attempt.

Ohio (1-0) would not trail following that basket.

After a basket by guard Steven Coleman, point guard Michael Allen found Freeman in the corner again.

Just as he had the previous two times, he knocked it down, pushing Ohio's lead to 37-30.

"The way Coach prepared us this week had me ready to float to the corner," Freeman said. "The guards did a good job finding me on their drives."

Freeman didn't only contribute from beyond the arc.

He also provided the team with defensive energy, taking a team-best three charges.

"That's kind of been my thing I bring to the floor," Freeman said. "It's kind of a momentum changer - you get a foul on them and you get the ball back."

After Freeman provided the output from outside, Tillman found his touch in the paint.

He came on strong in the second half, muscling his way to 19 points 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 34 minutes.

Tillman also energized the crowd of 3,846 with a pair of electrifying dunks - the second one which he said was the exclamation point on the Ohio win.

"I was going to do something else," Tillman said of the dunk. "He challenged me and I changed my mind at the last second."

With Freeman hitting from 3-point range and Tillman battling inside, forward Justin Orr gave Ohio a combination of both, totaling 16 points off the bench.

Orr, who was slowed throughout much of preseason conditioning with an assortment of injuries, hit two 3-point field goals.

More importantly, he attacked the basket, showing glimpses of the player he was in nonconference play last season.

"He had been shooting short quite a bit in practice for the first couple of weeks," Groce said. "I knew his legs were going to come back.

We need him to play as consistency as possible for us to reach our potential."

Around the rim

A fire alarm went off in The Convo in pregame warm ups delaying the start by 22 minutes...Center Zach Nagtzaam did not dress for the Bobcats. Groce said he is unsure when he will return to the lineup... Ohio improved to 10-1 all-time against schools from the Colonial Athletic Conference