Men's Basketball falls 81-77 in opening round of Chuck Resler Tournament

By Ashley Birchmeier

Rochester, N.Y. — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell to Vassar (N.Y.) 81-77 Friday afternoon at the Louis Alexander Palestra in the opening round of the Chuck Resler Tournament.

Ohio Northern falls to 1-1 overall, while Vassar moves to 1-1.

The Polar Bears were led in the contest by junior Aron Thress with a team-high 19 points.

Sophomore Travis Feitshans chipped in 15 points and junior Joey Hurless added 10 points.

Northern fell behind early in the first half but back to back threes from junior Devon Allen andHurless would pull the Polar Bears within 15-16 with 11:59 remaining.

Northern would get its first lead of the contest with 9:59 remaining in the half as sophomore Nate Burger would hit a pair of free-throws to put ONU on top 20-18.

The Polar Bears would find themselves trailing once more but efficent free-throw shooting from Feitshans would tie the score at 27-27 with 6:33 to play.

Vassar would hold ONU scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes before sophomore Konnor Baker was able to break the drought and pull the Polar Bears within 32-36 with 2:37 till the break.

The Brewers would go on to score the last four points of the half en route to the 40-32 halftime lead.

Northern opened the second half with an 8-0 run led by Thress to tie the contest at 40-40.

Vassar would combat the ONU run with a 9-0 run of its own to reclaim the 49-40 advantage with 15:10 to play.

After being held scoreless for almost two minutes, Thress would shoot a pair of free throws that would pull the Polar Bears within 47-54 with 12:14 to play in the contest.

Northern continued to battle as Allen pulled down an offensive board and was able to find Thress for the easy layin, pulling ONU within 50-54.

Trailing 54-58, Feistshans would complete the old fashion three point play for the Polar Bears to pull them within 57-58 with 8:21 remaining.

After falling behind 67-75 with 2:30 left in the contest, the Polar Bears would string together a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 72-75.

However, Vassar would sink a pair of late free throws to seal the 81-77 victory.

Vassar was led in the contest by Paul Grinde with 10 points.

Northern will return to action Saturday in the consolation game at 3 pm taking on the loser of Rochester (N.Y.) and Keystone (Pa.).