Waugh scores 22 as Men's Basketball falls 76-69 to Muskingum on Senior Day
By Andrew Loewe
ADA — Senior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) scored 22 points as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell 76-69 to Muskingum on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day at the ONU Sports Center.
With the loss, the Polar Bears finish the regular season 9-14 overall and 3-13 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Muskies improve to 6-19, 3-15.
Waugh, the team's lone senior, led Ohio Northern in scoring and added nine rebounds to his stat line.
Junior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) earned his first double-double of the season and the second of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Muskingum senior Alex Masinelli led all scorers with 39 points.
MU led 44-31 at halftime, but ONU started the second half on a 17-2 run to tie the game at 46 with 14:52 remaining.
Trailing 61-50 with 5:35 remaining, the Polar Bears used a 7-0 run fueled by five points from Waugh to cut the lead to 61-57 with 4:27 to go.
Muskingum opened the lead to 67-59 before freshman Tayt Birnesser (Columbus Grove) came off the bench to hit a wide open 3-pointer to cut the lead to 69-62 with 2:27 left in the game.
Waugh hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Muskies' lead to 69-68 with 65 seconds left.
Masinelli responded with a 3-point play, and MU held on to the lead en route to victory.
Ohio Northern made 25-of-60 field goals for 41.7% and was 8-of-23 from 3-point range for 34.8%, while Muskingum made 32-of-65 field goals for 49.2% and were 8-of-23 from beyond the arc for 34.8%.
ONU was 10-of-25 from the free-throw line for 40.0%, and MU shot 4-of-6 for 66.7%.
The Polar Bears won the battle of the boards 41-34.
Ohio Northern will start the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with a first-round matchup on Monday hosting Muskingum at 7 p.m.
