Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (14-6 Overall, 9-4 OAC) at Muskingum (8-12 Overall, 6-7 OAC)

Saturday, February 3, 2018, 2 pm - Steele Center, New Concord, Ohio

Saturday's Game: Ohio Northern is in third place alone in the OAC standings, just one game behind #22 Marietta and John Carroll with a road game at a dangerous Muskingum squad up next on Saturday ... The game will be the 14th OAC tilt of its 18-game round-robin schedule ... With a victory over the Muskies, ONU would clinch a top-4 finish in the OAC regular season standings and a quarterfinal home game in the upcoming OAC Tournament on Feb. 20 ... Senior Nate Burger became the 39th member of Ohio Northern's 1,000-point club in spectacular fashion, leading ONU to an 85-74 overtime victory over Baldwin Wallace on Wednesday evening at the ONU Sports Center ... Burger scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime and overcame a 1-for-10 start to reach the 1,000-point for his four-year career ... He surpassed the 1,000-point plateau with a huge 3-pointer with 1:26 left in overtime to cap a 10-0 run and give the Polar Bears a 79-71 lead ... Junior Ryan Bruns scored a team-high 29 points and grabbed six rebounds, senior Joey DiOrio added 15 points and freshman Brandon Waugh had five points and a career-high 10 rebounds for ONU ... Through 20 games this season, Bruns leads the league and is 2nd nationally with 59 blocked shots, is second in the league (and 8th nationally) in scoring at 25.4 ppg and is second in the OAC in rebounding at 8.7 rpg ... Burger is second on the team and third in the OAC (10th nationally) in scoring at 24.5 ppg, leads the OAC (21st nationally) with 111 assists and is third in the OAC with 60 3FGs ... Combined, Bruns and Burger provide the nation's top 1-2 punch, averaging 49.9 ppg combined ... They lead Shea Feehan (31.8 ppg) and Hank Thomas (17.7 ppg) of Eureka (Ill.), who combine for 49.5 ppg ... DiOrio is third on the team in scoring at 13.1 ppg and is second in the OAC with 61 3FGs ... DiOrio is 146-of-310 in his career from beyond the 3-point arc, and is 3rd all-time in ONU history at 47.1 percent from beyond the arc ... Bruns is ONU's all-time career blocked shots leader with 183 in 69 career games, breaking Stan Mories' school record of 171 from 1979-82 ... He is also 36th all-time at ONU with 1,068 career points and is second with a career field goal shooting percentage at .580 (408-704) ... Burger is 39th all-time in ONU history with 1,001 points in 84 career games and is 8th in free throw shooting percentage at .843 (194-of-230) ... Earlier this season, Bruns had career-highs of 41 points and 17 rebounds in an 108-87 victory over Muskingum on Jan.1 3 in Ada ... Burger added 29 points and senior Travis Feitshans also had a career night for Ohio Northern with 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high nine assists for ONU ... Marcus Dempsey scored 40 points to lead the Muskingum that night ... Muskingum enters Saturday's game off an 88-75 loss at Wilmington on Wednesday ... Sophomore Marcus Dempsey scored 26 points and Devon Peart added 18 points for the Muskies ... MU is only one game removed from a 112-105 victory over then-#24 John Carroll last Saturday when Dempsey had 39 and Peart had 34 points ... Dempsey has twice been named the USBWA National Player of the Week this season, an award that ONU's Bruns has won earlier this year .... Dempsey leads the OAC and is 3rd nationally, averaging 30.0 ppg ... Dempsey also leads the team in rebounding at 4.5 rpg and in assists with 51 ... Peart is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 ppg and leads the team with 33 steals.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #12 Nate Burger, Sr., (24.4 ppg, 60 3FG, 6.1 rpg, 111 Ast, 28 Stls)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, So., (4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 46 Ast)
F - #22 Joey DiOrio, Sr., (13.1 ppg, .480 3FG, 61 3FGs, 5.9 rpg)
F - #33 Travis Feitshans, Sr., (3.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
C - #21 Ryan Bruns, Sr. (25.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 59 Blocks)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 667-47 margin ... ONU has won 6 straight and 13 of the last 14 meetings, including an 108-87 victory on Jan. 13 in Ada ... ONU is 25-24 in games played in New Concord and has won two straight at the Steele Center.

ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his second season at ONU with a 30-16 record, a winning percentage of .652.