Unruh's 3-pointer at the buzzer, 34 points from Bruns lead Men's Basketball to 65-62 victory at Thomas More (Ky.)

By Tim Glon

CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — Freshman Daniel Unruh (Elida) nailed a 3-pointer as time expired left to snap a 62-all tie and lift the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to a 65-62 victory at Thomas More (Ky.) on Wednesday evening at the Connor Center.

The Polar Bears (3-2 overall) also got a season-high 34 points and seven rebounds from senior All-American Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) and eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds from junior Caleb Bryan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) in the contest.

The Saints (3-4 overall) were led by Ralph Stone with 18 points.

Bruns made back-to-back baskets to give Ohio Northern a 62-59 lead with 1:56 left in the game.

But Stone tied the game at 62-all with a 3-pointer at the 1:38 mark.

Each team followed with two empty possessions and the Polar Bears called timeout with nine seconds left, setting up Unruh for the game-winning three.

Bruns had 14 points in the first half, but ONU struggled with nine turnovers and trailed by as many as eight points on two separate occasions before rallying within 31-26 at intermission.

Junior Austin Allemeier (Lima/Elida) made a 3-pointer just before the half to get Northern within 31-26, then the Polar Bears opened the second half on an 13-2 run to take a 39-33 lead just 4:34 into the period.

Six points from Bruns, capped by a dunk, and another three from Allemeier keyed the run.

Ohio Northern made 29-of-57 field goals for 50.9 percent and were 5-of-14 from 3-point range for 35.7 percent, while Thomas More made 23-of-58 shots from the floor for 39.7 percent and was 8-of-23 from three for 34.8 percent.

ONU won the rebounding battle by a 36-27 margin.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday when they open Ohio Athletic Conference action with a 2 pm contest against Mount Union at the ONU Sports Center.