Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) at Defiance (1-1 Overall)

Tuesday, November 20, 2017 - 7:30 pm - Weaner Center, Defiance, Ohio

| 2017-18 Ohio Northern Season Preview |

Monday's Game: Ohio Northern will open its 2017-18 season on Monday with a game at area-rival Defiance ... ONU is coming off a strong showing in a 72-62 exhibition loss at NCAA Division I foe Toledo on Nov. 14 ... That game counted as an exhibition game for the Polar Bears as NCAA Division III teams cannot play official games until Nov. 15 ... The game was a varsity contest for the Rockets, as DI schools could begin varsity play Nov. 8 ... Ohio Northern nearly pulled off a huge upset, trailing by just two points in the final three minutes ... Senior Nate Burger poured in 23 points and junior Ryan Bruns had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead ONU ... The Polar Bears trailed 36-35 at halftime and were down 55-45 with 10:15 left in the game, but rallied to within 64-62 with 3:19 left and had a real chance at the upset ... But Toledo would score the game's final eight points to hold on for the win ... Junior Daniel Donner added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Ohio Northern ... ... ONU returns two starters and 14 lettermen from last year's squad that went 16-10 overall and was second in the OAC with a 14-4 league record ... Senior Joey DiOrio (8.8 ppg) and junior Ryan Bruns (13.0 ppg) are ONU's two returning starters ... Seniors Nate Burger (13.1 ppg) and Travis Feitshans (6.2 ppg) also have starting experience ... Junior Daniel Donner and sophomore Austin Allemeier will be making the first varsity start of their careers ... Defiance is coming off a 96-64 loss at Olivet (Mich.) on Saturday after defeating Ohio Mid-Western 103-77 on Wednesday ... Freshman Kiewaun Graham leads DC in scoring at 13.5 ppg ... Senior Jonathan Ragland is second at 13.0 ppg, freshman Demoines Whitney os third at 12.0 ppg and freshman Davontae Kinnie is fourth at 9.5 ppg.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters (2016-17 stats):

G - #12 Nate Burger, Sr., (13.1 ppg, 44 3FG, 78 ast)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, So., (.7 ppg)
F - #22 Joey DiOrio, Sr., (8.8 ppg, .538 3FG, 4.3 rpg)
F - #13 Daniel Donner, Jr. (.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
C - #21 Ryan Bruns, Sr. (13.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg)

ONU Returning Statistical Leaders (2016-17):

All-Time Series: Defiance leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 37-32 margin ... ONU has won three straight in the series, including a 93-51 victory in Ada last season.

ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his second season at ONU with a 16-10 record, a winning percentage of .615.