Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (11-5 Overall, 6-3 OAC) at Mount Union (9-7 Overall, 5-4 OAC)

Saturday, January 20, 2018, 2 pm - McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex, Alliance, Ohio

Saturday's Game: Ohio Northern will begin the second half of its 18-game, double-round robin Ohio Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday with a 2 pm contest at Mount union ... The game will be the 10th OAC tilt of the season  ... Ohio Northern is coming off an 84-80 loss to Heidelberg at the ONU Sports Center on Wednesday ... Junior Ryan Bruns had his eighth double-double of the season with game-highs of 29 points and 11 rebounds, Senior Nate Burger added 20 points and eight rebounds, senior Travis Feitshans added 15 points and senior Joey DiOrio chipped in 12 points for Ohio Northern ... Through 16 games this season, Burger leads the team, is second in the OAC and is 8th nationally in scoring at 25.6 ppg and leads the OAC with 95 assists and 51 3FGs ... Bruns leads the league with 39 blocked shots, is third in the league (and 11th nationally) in scoring at 24.6 ppg and is second in the OAC in rebounding at 9.0 rpg ... Senior Joey DiOrio is third on the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg and is second in the OAC 50 3FGs ... DiOrio is 135-of-288 in his career from beyond the 3-point arc, good for 46.9 percent ... Bruns is second all-time in ONU history with 169 career blocked shots and needs just 3 more to break Stan Mories' school record of 171 from 1979-82 ... Bruns also has 955 career points in 65 games and needs just 45 more to become the 38th member of ONU's 1,000-Point Club ... Burger is also closing in on 1,000 career points and currently has 921 points in 80 career games  ... Earlier this season, ONU got 30 points from Bruns and 21 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists from Burger in an 86-82 win over Mount Union on Dec. 9 in Ada ... Nathan Bower-Malone scored 25 points to lead Mount Union ... The Purple Raiders are coming off a 97-89 loss at Muskingum on Wednesday ... JJ Kukura recorded his sixth career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Bower-Malone and D'Vontay Friga scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, and Miles Griffin  had 11 points on the night for the Raiders ... Kukura leads the team and is fifth in the OAC in scoring this season, averaging 18.9 ppg ... Bower-Malone is second on the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg and Friga is third at 11.3 ppg ... Kukura also leads the team in rebounding at 5.9 rpg.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #12 Nate Burger, Sr., (25.6 ppg, 51 3FG, 6.2 rpg, 95 Ast, 24 Stls)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, So., (4.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 40 Ast)
F - #22 Joey DiOrio, Sr., (13.3 ppg, .476 3FG, 50 3FGs, 6.0 rpg)
F - #24 Travis Feitshans, Sr., (4.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
C - #21 Ryan Bruns, Sr. (24.6 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 45 Blocks)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 60-39 margin ... ONU has won two straight in the series, including an 86-83 victory in Ada on Dec. 9 ... ONU is 25-24 in games played in Alliance.

ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his second season at ONU with a 27-15 record, a winning percentage of .643.