Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (3-5 Overall) at Wittenberg Kiwanis Holiday Classic

Sunday-Monday, December 29-30, 2019 - Smith Evans Arena, Springfield, Ohio

| Tournament Site | 

Tournament Preview: The Ohio Northern men's basketball team will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a pair of games at the Wittenberg Kiwanis Holiday Classic ... ONU will face Spalding (Ky.) in the first round on Sunday at 4:30 pm and will face either #3-ranked Wittenberg or Elmira (N.Y.) on Monday at 2:15 pm (Consolation game) or 7 pm (Championship game) ... The Polar Bears are coming off a 73-66 victory over Manchester (ind.) on Dec. 21 at the ONU Sports Center ... Junior Thomas Phillips scored a career-high 22 points to lead ONU past the Spartans ... Freshman Landen Long added 16 points and sophomore Brandon Waugh chipped in 13 points for Ohio Northern ... Thus far this season, freshman C.J. Napier leads ONU in scoring (17.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) ... Napier is expected back in the starting lineup after missing the past three games due to injury ... Long is second in scoring at 13.5 ppg and leads the team with 15 3-pointers ... Waugh is third in scoring at 9.5 ppg and leads the team with 26 assists and 19 steals ... Spalding (1-7) is coming off a 76-71 win over Iowa Wesleyan on Dec. 14 in a Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference battle ... Marcus Montgomery leads the Eagles in scoring at 15.8 ppg and Jaiquan Edwards is second at 12.0 ppg ... No. 3-ranked Wittenberg is 8-0 on the season after a 69-52 win over Hanover (Ind.) on Dec. 18 ... Connor Seipel leads the Tigers are in scoring at 17.9 ppg and in rebounding at 11.3 rpg ... Elmira is 0-7 after falling 65-54 at McDaniel (Md.) on Dec. 15 ... The Eagles are led in scoring by Shawn Backus at 12.0 ppg.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #1 Brandon Waugh, So. (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 26 assists, 19 steals)
G - #12 Landen Long, Fr. (13.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 15 3FGs)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, Sr. (6.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 20 assists)
F - #21 C.J. Napier, Fr. (17.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
F - #33 Thomas Phillips, Jr. (7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern is 0-1 all-time against Spalding (Ky.) … The Polar Bears topped the Eag;es 72-69 in the opening round of the Mount Saint Joseph Invitational on Nov. 21, 2008 ... ONU is 22-53 all-time against Wittenberg and has not yet faced Elmira (N.Y.) in men's basketball. 

Head Coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his fourth season at ONU with a 45-42 record, a winning percentage of .517.