Napier records a double-double as Men's Basketball falls 90-77 against No. 9 Marietta
By Andrew Loewe
Ada — Sophomore C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) recorded his fifth double-double of the season as the Ohio Northern Men's Basketball team fell 90-77 against No.9 Marietta Friday night at the ONU Sports Center.
ONU drops to 3-5 overall and 3-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while MC improves to 8-1, 8-1.
The Polar Bears were led by Napier with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore Landen Long (Mason) added 13 points and freshman Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) scored 11 points off the bench.
All five of the Pioneers starters had double-figure scoring totals, led by Mason Lydic and Jason Ellis with 17 points each.
With Marietta leading 55-42 with 17:37 remaining, Napier scored six consecutive points to close the gap to 55-48 with 16:19 remaining and force a Marietta timeout.
The Pioneers responded with a three-pointer by Sahmi Willoughby at 16:05 to spark a 10-2 run with a 65-50 lead at 14:19.
Junior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the MC lead to 81-71 with 6:12 remaining.
Marietta responded with a 4-0 run and the lead did not drop below 12 points again.
ONU made 28-of-66 field goal attempts for 42.4 percent and were 10-of-20 from 3-point range for 36.4 percent. MC was 35-of-69 from the floor for 50.7 percent and shot 10-of-20 three-pointers for 50.0 percent.
The Pioneers outrebounded the Polar Bears 44-36.
Ohio Northern heads to No. 9 Marietta on Saturday night for a 6 pm tip-off in the second part of the OAC home-and-home series and the regular season finale for both teams.
