Men's Basketball: Defiance (0-1 Overall) at Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall)
Monday, November 12, 2018, 7 pm - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Saturday's Game: Ohio Northern will open its 108th season of varsity basketball in 2018-19 with a 7 pm contest against area-rival Defiance on Monday ... The Nov. 12 season opener is believed to be the earliest season-opener in ONU history ... The Polar Bears welcome back three starters and 10 lettermen, led by senior All-American center Ryan Bruns, under third-year head coach Rich Bensman ... Senior forward Daniel Donner and junior wing Austin Allemeier also return as starters from 2017-18's squad that went 19-9 overall, finished third in the OAC with a 12-6 record and reached the finals of the OAC Tournament ... ONU was selected to finish third in the OAC Regular Season preseason poll this season ... The Polar Bears also received votes in the annual D3hoops.com national preseason poll ... Bruns He stands as ONU's all-time career leader in blocked shots with 189 ... Ranks third all-time in ONU history in career field goal percentage at 57.5%, is 19th in made free throws with 260, and is 26th with 1,162 career points ... He was named D3hoops.com and NABC Second-Team All-America, First-Team All-Region, First-Team All-Conference and was the OAC Player of the Year during the 2017-18 season ... Defiance is coming off a 94-82 loss at Adrian (Mich.) in its season opener on Saturday ... Sophomore Davontae Kinnie led five Yellow Jackets in double figures in scoring with 16 points ... Freshman Mason Laube added 14 points, sophomore Demoines Whitney and freshman Sean Tyson had 13 points each and freshman Tyler Andrew scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for DC ... Defiance is going with the youth movement in 2018-19, as the roster consists of 1 senior, 1 junior, 3 sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters (2017-18 Stats):
G - #25 Ty Staten, Fr.,
G - #14 Daniel Unruh, Fr.
F - #5 Austin Allemeier, Jr., (4.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 63 Ast)
F - #13 Daniel Donner, Sr., (7.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
C - #21 Ryan Bruns, Sr., (24.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 65 Blocks)
ONU Returning Statistical Leaders (2017-18 Stats):
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Blocked Shots | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Bruns | 24.8 | 1. | Bruns | 8.7 | 1. | Bruns | 17 | 1. | Allemeier | 63 | 1. | Bruns | 65 | ||||
| 2. | Donner | 7.1 | 2. | Donner | 4.6 | 2. | Allemeier | 7 | 2. | Bruns | 26 | 2. | Allemeier | 3 | ||||
| 3. | Allemeier | 4.6 | 3. | Allemeier | 3.3 | 3. | Donner | 4 | 3. | Donner | 22 | 3. | Donner | 2 |
All-Time Series: Defiance leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 37-33 margin ... ONU has won the last four games, including a 106-64 win at Defiance in 2017-18 ... The two schools have met each year since 2010-11 with ONU holding a 5-3 lead during that span.
ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his third season at ONU with a 35-19 record, a winning percentage of .648.
