Men's Basketball turns in solid defensive performance in 82-60 victory over Capital
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team turned in a stellar defensive performance in an 82-60 Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Capital on Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (13-6 overall, 8-4 OAC) limited the Crusaders (9-10, 5-7) to 27 percent shooting from the floor and 18 percent from 3-point range.
Junior Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) led four ONU players in double figures in scoring with 26 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
Senior Nate Burger (Dayton/Alter) scored 18 points and had team-highs of eight rebounds and four assists, freshman Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) had 12 points and junior Daniel Donner (Bellville/Northmor) added 10 points for Ohio Northern.
Capital was led by Ganiyu Yahaya with nine points.
Northern used a 17-6 run to take a 35-19 lead with 6:02 left in the opening half and took a 46-26 lead into intermission.
The Polar Bears then scored the first seven points of the second half, holding the Crusaders scoreless for more than four minutes, to push the lead to 53-26.
A 3-point play by Donner at the 8:35 mark of the second half gave Ohio Northern its biggest lead of the afternoon at 70-36.
Both teams emptied the benches shortly thereafter and Northern cruised to the win as 32 different players saw action in the contest for the two teams.
Northern shot 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the field, including 8-of-20 (40.0 percent) from 3-point range.
Capital out-rebounded Ohio Northern by a 41-40 margin.
Bruns was honored in a ceremony before the game for breaking ONU's all-time career blocked shots record and for reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career. ONU All-American Stan Mories, who blocked 171 shots from 1979-82, presented Bruns with plaque for breaking his record that had stood for 36 years.
Bruns now has blocked 182 shots and has scored 1,040 points in 68 career games.
Burger also got closer to joining Bruns in the 1,000-Point Club with 978 points.
The Polar Bears return home on Wednesday evening as they welcome No. 25-ranked Baldwin Wallace to the ONU Sports Center for a 7 pm contest.
