Men's Basketball advances to Don Lane Classic finals with 105-74 victory over Lynchburg (Va.)
By Caleb Scott
ADA — Senior Devon Allen (Lima/Senior) scored a game-high 27 points and led the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to a 105-74 victory over Lynchburg (Va.) to advance to the Don Lane Classic Tuesday evening.
The Polar Bears improve to 5-4 overall, while the Hornets fall to 5-4 overall.
Allen scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including hitting a game-high seven 3-pointers.
Senior Aron Thress (Lancaster/Amanda Clearcreek) added 15 points and five rebounds for Northern, while junior Travis Feitshans (Arcanum/Franklin Monroe) chipped in 13 points and five rebounds.
Sophomore Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Allen got the Polar Bears out to a quick lead as he drilled a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game to put Northern ahead 3-0 just twenty seconds into the contest.
After falling behind 20-17 midway through the first half, the Polar Bears used an 8-0 run capped off by a free throw from Thress to take a 25-20 lead with 9:46 left in the first half.
After exchanging baskets, Northern would close the half on a 30-6 run fueled by 14 points by Allen, including back-to-back-to-back three pointers and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the half to take a 55-31 lead into the half.
Northern would pick up where they left off in the first half as senior Joey Hurless (Van Wert) and Allen opened the second half with back-to-back three pointers to take a 61-33 lead with 18:47 remaining in the contest.
ONU opened up its biggest lead of the evening as freshman Austin Allemeier (Lima/Elida) made a layup with 45 seconds remaining in the contest to push the lead 105-72.
The Polar Bears shot 38-of-57 (66.7 percent) from the field, including 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
Lynchburg edged Northern 33-32 on the boards.
The Polar Bears advance to the finals of the Don Lane Classic with the victory and will take on Transylvania (Ky.) at 5 pm on Wednesday.