Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (9-3 Overall, 4-1 OAC) at #25 Marietta (9-3 Overall, 3-2 OAC)
Saturday, January 6, 2018, 3 pm - Ban Johnson Arena, Marietta, Ohio
Saturday's Game: Ohio Northern will travel to #25 Marietta for a key OAC contest on Saturday ... ONU is in a 3-way tie for first place in the OAC with Baldwin Wallace and John Carroll 4-1 records, while preseason league favorite Marietta is tied for second with Mount Union and Muskingum with a 3-2 record ... This will be Northern's sixth game of its 18-game, double-round robin OAC schedule ... The Polar Bears are coming off an 82-59 win over Otterbein on Wednesday at the ONU Sports Center ... Senior Nate Burger led four Ohio Northern players in double figures in scoring with 26 points ... Junior Ryan Bruns scored 20 points, senior Joey DiOrio scored 18 points and freshman Brandon Waugh (chipped in 15 points for ONU ... Northern did not trail in the game, racing to leads of 13-2, 18-6 and 29-10 in the first 11:13 of the contest ... Through 12 games this season, Burger leads the team and is second in the OAC in scoring at 25.8 ppg, leads the OAC with 66 assists and is second in the OAC with 41 3FGs ... Bruns leads the league with 35 blocked shots, is third in the league in scoring at 22.4 ppg and is third in the OAC in rebounding at 8.6 rpg ... DiOrio is third on the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg, leads the OAC with 42 3FGs and is fourth in the OAC in 3FG shooting at 48.8 percent (42-of-86) ... DiOrio is 127-of-269 in his career from beyond the 3-point arc, and ranks third all-time in ONU history at 47.2 percent ... Bruns is second all-time in ONU history with 159 career blocked shots and needs just 13 to break Stan Mories' school record of 171 from 1979-82. ... Marietta is coming off an 104-86 victory over Muskingum on Wednesday ... All five Pioneer starters scored in double figures with Avery Williams notching his third double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Wallace and Kyle Dixon finished with 19 points apiece ... DeVaughn Wingard hit four three-pointers and added 15 points, while Dillon Young chipped in with 11 points. Young dished out a game-high eight assists from his point guard position ... Wallace leads five players averaging in double figures in scoring on the season with an average of 13.6 ppg ... Williams (12.5 ppg), Young (11.8 ppg), Dixon (10.6 ppg) and Wingard (10.2 ppg) also average more than 10 points per game ... Williams leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 rpg and Young leads the team with 44 assists.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters:
G - #12 Nate Burger, Sr., (25.8 ppg, 41 3FG, 6.3 rpg, 66 Ast, 19 Stls)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, So., (4.3 ppg, 29 Ast)
F - #22 Joey DiOrio, Sr., (14.4 ppg, .488 3FG, 42 3FGs, 5.9 rpg)
F - #1 Brandon Waugh, Fr. (10.3 ppg, 17 Stls, 31 Ast)
C - #21 Ryan Bruns, Sr. (22.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 35 Blocks)
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Blocked Shots | ||||||||||||||
1. | Burger | 25.8 | 1. | Bruns | 8.6 | 1. | DiOrio | 42 | 1. | Burger | 66 | 1. | Bruns | 35 | ||||
2. | Burns | 22.4 | 2. | Burger | 6.3 | 2. | Burger | 41 | 2. | Waugh | 31 | 2. | DiOrio | 7 | ||||
3. | DiOrio | 14.4 | 3. | DiOrio | 5.9 | 3. | Waugh | 13 | 3. | Allemeier | 29 | 3. | Waugh | 4 | ||||
4. | Waugh | 10.3 |
All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 58-32 margin ... MC has won 6 of the last 7 in the series, with each team winning on its home court last season ... ONU is 26-19 in games played in Marietta.
ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his second season at ONU with a 25-13 record, a winning percentage of .658.