Men's Basketball falls 57-53 in defensive battle at Otterbein
By Tim Glon
ADA — Junior Michael Berner (Springboro) scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in a 57-53 loss Wednesday night at the Rike Center.
The Polar Bears (8-4 overall, 2-3 Ohio Athletic Conference) also got 15 points and 10 rebounds from junior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick, marking Napier's third double-double this season and the ninth of his career.
The Cardinals (9-2, 3-1) were led by Cam Evans with 12 points.
Both team's defenses were dominant in the slow-paced game with Northern only attempting 43 field goals attempts while committing 16 turnovers in 62 offensive possessions.
Northern trailed 49-42 with 5:04 left in the game when junior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) made a basket and two free throws to get ONU within 50-46 at the 3:37 mark.
A three-pointer by Napier got Northern within 53-50 with 1:17 to go and Scott followed by making one of two free throws with 28 seconds left to get ONU within 53-51.
But Otterbein would make four consecutive free throws in the final 17 seconds to hold on for the win.
It marked the third consecutive game for ONU at Otterbein's Rike Center, as the Polar Bears defeated Ohio Wesleyan 87-83 and Olivet (Mich.) 78-59 Dec. 29-30 at the Smokey Ballenger Classic.
Ohio Northern made 19-of-43 field goal attempts for 44.2 percent and was 4-of-11 from 3-point range for 36.4 percent. Otterbein was 20-of-51 from the floor for 39.2 percent and made 7-of-21 from beyond the arc for 33.3 percent.
Northern won the rebounding battle by a slim 29-28 margin.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday when they host John Carroll in the second game of a women's/men's double header at approximately 4 pm at the ONU sports Center.