Miller scores 21, Cunningham Jr. posts a career-high 8 steals as Men's Basketball defeats No. 24 John Carroll 85-84 in OAC thriller

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — Junior Will Miller (Ottoville) scored 21 points and sophomore Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Columbus/Westerville South) added a career-high 8 steals as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team fought off a late second half surge to earn an 85-84 victory at No. 24-ranked John Carroll on Saturday afternoon. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (5-2 Overall, 1-1 OAC), John Carroll (3-4 Overall, 0-2 OAC).
• Venue: Tony Decarlo Varsity Center- University Heights, Ohio.

The Game

• Miller led the Polar Bears with 21 points and had 6 rebounds as well. 
• Cunningham Jr. (Columbus/Westerville South) added 14 points, had 6 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds to go with his career high 8 steals. 
• Sophomore Carter Reese (Columbus/Westerville North) added 12 points and had 4 boards. 
• Sophomore Theo Maag (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) also added 12 points and brought in 5 boards. 
• Chase Toppin led the Blue Streaks with 22 points.
• After a back and forth battle to start Northern would build a lead off a 9-0 run at the 11:22 mark, making the score 28-20
• In the first half, Cunningham Jr. would push the lead to 36-26 with a made layup with 6:19 remaining, but John Carroll would respond and cut the lead to 48-47 on the final shot of the half. 
• Ohio Northern would build its lead in the second half with a 14-2 run to go up 68-55 with 11:56 left. 
• A 3-pointer by Miller would give ONU n 85-75 lead with 1:59 to play.
• The Blue Streaks would then mount a furious rally, scoring the game's final nine points, and had a chance to win the game but a desperation shot at the buzzer missed and the Polar Bears hung on for the win.
• Ohio Northern was 35-of-62 from the floor for 56.5 percent and made 12-27 three-pointers for 44.4 percent, while John Carroll finished 34-of-67 from the field for 50.7 percent and 4-of-17 from three-point range for 23.5 percent.
• ONU made 3-of-6 free throws for 50.0 percent and JCU was 12-of-20 from the foul line for 60.0 percent.
• The Blue Streaks out rebounded the Polar Bears 30-29.

Notables

• ONU now leads the all-time series with John Carroll by a 40-39 margin.
• Northern is now ranked first in the conference in steals per game at 9.9. Three Polar Bears are ranked in the top ten in total steals as well. 
• Cunningham, Jr. is first in the conference in assists as well as steals and field goal percentage. 
• Ohio Northern continues its 114th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1377-1078, a winning percentage of .560.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his third season at Ohio Northern with a 29-29 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will continue their road trip and face OAC opponent Capital next Saturday at 1pm.