Men's Basketball: Ohio Northern (16-7 Overall, 11-5 OAC) at Otterbein (1-22 Overall, 1-15 OAC)

Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 7 pm - Rike Center, Ada, Ohio

Wednesday's Game: Ohio Northern sits in third place in the OAC standings entering the final week of the regular season ... The game at Otterbein will be the penultimate tilt of ONU's 18-game round-robin schedule ... Ohio Northern has clinched a top-4 finish in the OAC and will host a quarterfinal game in the OAC Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 20 as part of a women's/men's double header that night ... Ohio Northern overcame an 18-point first half deficit, but cold-shooting from long range and a late run by No. 24-ranked John Carroll was the difference in a 90-80 loss on Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center ... The Polar Bears got a game-high 33 points from senior Nate Burger, 17 points from junior Ryan Bruns and 12 from senior Joey DiOrio ... Through 23 games this season, Bruns leads the league and is 6th nationally with 65 blocked shots, is second in the league (and 7th nationally) in scoring at 24.7 ppg and is second in the OAC in rebounding at 9.0 rpg ... Burger is second on the team and third in the OAC (13th nationally) in scoring at 24.1 ppg, leads the OAC (21st nationally) with 125 assists and is fourth in the OAC with 63 3FGs ... Senior Joey DiOrio is third on the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg and is second in the OAC with 69 3FGs ... DiOrio is 3rd all-time in ONU history at 46.5 percent (154-of-331) from beyond the arc ... Bruns is ONU's all-time career blocked shots leader with 189 in 72 career games, breaking Stan Mories' school record of 171 from 1979-82 ... He is also 26th all-time at ONU with 1,130 points ... In 87 career games, Burger ranks 37th all-time in ONU history with 1,065 career points and is 19th with 245 assists ... Earlier this season Ohio Northern defeated Otterbein 82-59 in Ada ... Burger led four Ohio Northern players in double figures in scoring with 26 points ... Bruns scored 20 points, DiOrio scored 18 points and freshman Brandon Waugh chipped in 15 points for ONU ... OU was led by Connor Clark with 14 points ... Otterbein is coming off a tight 75-71 home loss to Muskingum on Senior Day on Saturday ... OU rallied from a 23-point first half defeicit to pull within 69-66 with 1:02 to go, but the Muskies would make four consecutive free throws in the final 19 seconds to ice the game ... Justin Carter scored 18 points and Matt Hughes added 14 points for the Cardinals ... In 23 games this season, Carter leads the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg and Corey Howard is second at 8.4 ppg.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #12 Nate Burger, Sr., (24.1 ppg, 63 3FG, 6.0 rpg, 125 Ast, 34 Stls)
G - #5 Austin Allemeier, So., (4.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 47 Ast)
F - #22 Joey DiOrio, Sr., (12.9 ppg, .466 3FG, 69 3FGs, 5.7 rpg)
F - #33 Travis Feitshans, Sr., (4.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 49 Ast)
C - #13 Daniel Donner, Jr., (5.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 72-55 margin ... ONU has won 2 straight and 9 of the last 10 meetings, including an 82-595 win in Ada on Jan. 3 ... OU is 31-28 in games played in Westerville.

ONU head coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his second season at ONU with a 32-17 record, a winning percentage of .653.