Big first-half run spurs Men's Basketball to 83-51 win over Ursinus (Pa.) in Cruzin' Classic

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team put together a 16-0 scoring run in the first half en route to an 83-51 win over Ursinus (Pa.) in the Cruzin' Classic at Barry University on Wednesday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (4-6 overall), Ursinus (3-6 overall)
• Venue: Health & Sports Center - Miami Shores, Fla.

The Game

• Freshman Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Columbus/Westerville South) led ONU with 22 points to go with four assists and two steals.
• Freshman Carter Reese (Westerville/North) was 3-of-4 from 3-point range and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.
• Junior Blake Michael (Fremont/St. Joseph Central Catholic) tallied 13 points, 5 rebounds and one steal, and sophomore Will Miller (Ottoville) added eight points.
• Trevor Wall led Ursinus with 19 points.
• The Polar Bears trailed 10-9 with 13:21 left in the first half but responded with the 16-0 run to take a 25-10 lead with 7:49 remaining.
• Senior Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) started that spurt with a 3-pointer and had six points in that span to go with five from Cunningham Jr., two each from Miller, Reese and freshman Noah Langford (Perrysburg/Toledo Central Catholic) and one from freshman Cayden Jacoby (Pettisville).
• Ursinus ended that run with a 3-pointer with 7:40 left, but sophomore Mason Studer (Galion/Colonel Crawford) answered with a triple for a 30-13 ONU edge.
• The Polar Bears led 42-23 at halftime and were never significantly threatened in the second half en route to the 30-point victory.
• Ohio Northern made 30-of-56 field goal attempts for 53.6%, including a 7-of-20 mark from 3-point range for 35%.
• Ursinus was 19-of-42 shooting for 45.2% and made 5-of-11 3-pointers for 45.5%.
• ONU was 16-of-23 from the foul line for 69.6%, and UC was 8-of-17 for 47.1%.
• Ohio Northern won the rebounding battle 30-28.
• ONU scored 34 points off of 22 Ursinus turnovers and finished with a 38-26 edge in points in the paint.

Notables

• Cunningham Jr.'s 22 points marked a career high, topping his previous best of 14 against Kalamazoo (Mich.) on Nov. 11. This was his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season.
• Reese fell just short of his single-game career-high scoring total of 25 points, which he has recorded twice this season. He has now scored in double figures in eight games this season, including three games of 20-plus points. His eight rebounds marked a career best.
• Michael's 13 points marked a career best, topping a 10-point game he had during his freshman season.
• This marked the first all-time meeting between Ohio Northern and Ursinus.
• Ohio Northern is playing its 113th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1362-1071, a winning percentage of .560.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his second season at Ohio Northern with a 14-21 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to action on Thursday for their second of two games in the Cruzin' Classic, facing off against Olivet (Mich.) at 4 p.m. at Barry University.