Season Preview: Men's Basketball seeks third consecutive winning season, fourth successive OAC upper-division finish in 2018-19 campaign
By Blake Moore
| 2018-19 Men's Basketball Schedule |
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's basketball program aims for its third straight winning season and fourth consecutive upper-division finish in the Ohio Athletic Conference during the 2018-19 regular season under third-year head coach Rich Bensman.
Last season, the Polar Bears compiled a 19-9 overall record and a 12-6 mark in the OAC Regular Season title race, ranking them third in the final league standings. Northern would then proceed to the OAC Tournament Finals for the first time since the 2006 campaign where they fell to top-seeded John Carroll 94-77 on the road.
Bensman has reignited a winning culture at ONU following a stretch from 2010-2016 where the Orange and Black went just 92-93. In two seasons under the third-year head coach, Ohio Northern has posted a 35-19 record, which also includes an OAC Regular Season runner-up finish in the 2016-17 season.
The program will need to replace seven graduated seniors from the 2017-18 squad, but the team is prepared for the challenge heading into the new campaign.
This season, the Polar Bear lineup will feature 10 previous letterwinners, including seven multiple-time lettermen, and an All-American and reigning OAC Player of the Year in senior center Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local).
Ohio Northern was selected to finish third in the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season title race this season after receiving 59 points in the OAC Coaches Poll released on October 31.
The Polar Bears also received votes in the annual D3hoops.com Preseason Men's Basketball Poll.
"Just like any year, you have a new team and a new identity," Bensman noted. "Last season, we took on a team that did not have many players with college varsity-level minutes. We are in the same position this year, but we have a lot of young, talented players on the roster ready to make an impact."
The following is a breakdown of the 2018-19 Ohio Northern men's basketball team according to position:
Point Guard
Freshman Ty Staten (Proctorville/Fairland) and senior Sean Grady (Willowick/Eastlake North) will lead the point guard unit for the Polar Bears this season following an injury to sophomore guard Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland).
Staten was slated to serve as Waugh's back-up in his first season, but will likely be called upon earlier to orchestrate the Northern offense.
Grady will bring experience to the point guard position after appearing in 25 games the past two seasons for 6.4 minutes per contest. The senior is a 46.7% career shooter and owns a 3.3 assist-turnover ratio in his time at ONU.
Wing
Junior Austin Allemeier (Elida), sophomore transfer Colton Bachman (Piqua), and freshman Daniel Unruh (Elida) are the frontrunners for playing time at the wing position this season.
Allemeier returns as a two-time letterman and a starter from last year's squad, having started 27 games and appearing in all 28 contests. The third-year athlete has averaged 21 minutes, 3.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per contest throughout his career.
Meanwhile, Bachman and Unruh join the program for their first respective seasons and will round out the top choices for the wing position in 2018-19.
Additionally, Coach Bensman notes that several other players could see playing time at the wing positions as the Polar Bears continue to develop their rotation throughout the early-season schedule.
Post
At the post positions, Bruns and classmate Daniel Donner (Bellville/Northmor) will serve as the primary starters at the center and power forward positions, respectively.
Bruns, a 2018-19 D3hoops.com Preseason All-American, led the Polar Bears last season with 217 rebounds, a 57.8% field goal percentage, and 65 blocked shots while also leading all returns and finishing second on the team with 601 points.
He currently tops the school record books with 189 career blocks and sits third all-time with a 57.5% career shooting mark.
The senior was named a Second-Team All-American and a First-Team All-Great Lakes Region honoree by both the NABC and D3hoops.com during the 2017-18 campaign. He also recieved Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year accolades and his second consecutive All-OAC award.
Donner returns for his final season after his court time was limited in 2017-18 due to injury. The Bellville native has started nine contest in 28 career appearances for Northern, averaging 4.4 points per contest on 44% shooting. His career totals also include a 3.0 rebounding average after posting 4.6 per contest last season.
Junior Caleb Bryan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and sophomore Thomas Phillips (Kenton) will also be called upon in the post position, having both been lettermen a season ago.
Schedule
The Polar Bears are slated to kick off the 2018-19 season Monday evening with a visit from area-rival Defiance. The contest is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. inside the ONU Sports Center.
Ohio Northern's nonconference competitions will be headlined by a trip to the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 27-28. ONU will battle Linfield (Ore.) on day one followed with a clash against NCAA Division III perennial power North Central (Ill.).
The out-of-conference schedule also includes visits from in-state foes Denison and Wooster and trips to Hope (Mich.) and Thomas More (Ky.).
"We have a good non-conference schedule, and it will be tough," Bensman remarked. "You have proven programs like Hope and Wooster - who are regularly among the nationally-recognized teams. Then, we head out to the D3hoops.com Classic, which we look forward to competing in."
Northern will raise the curtain on the 2018-19 OAC regular season on Saturday, December 1 when they host Mount Union in a 2 p.m. afternoon affair.
Following the 18-game conference schedule, qualifying teams will compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament to be held on February 19, 21, and 23.
"There are no nights off in the conference. If you take one, that game will go down as a loss," Bensman stated of the tough conference competition.