Men's Basketball edges Muskingum 72-67 in a hard fought OAC battle

ADA — Sophomore Carter Reese (Westerville/North) scored 16 points as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team earned a 72-67 victory in a hard fought physical battle at home on Saturday afternoon against Muskingum. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (8-3 overall, 2-2 OAC), Muskingum (5-6 Overall, 3-1 OAC).
• Venue: ONU Sports Center - Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Reese led the Polar Bears with 16 points and also had 3 steals.
• Junior Will Miller added 13 points aand grabbed 5 boards to go with it. 
• Sophomore Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Westerville/South) added 12 points and brought in another 5 rebounds as well as 7 assists.
• Sophomore Cayden Jacoby (Pettisvile) also added 12 points off the bench.
• Duane Davis led the Muskies with 23 points.
• The first half would be very back and forth until Northern grabbed a 35-29 lead after 4 straight points to end the half
• The Muskies would come out hot and retake the lead after a 7-0 run to start the secnd half at 36-35. 
• Northern would again build a lead after a 7-0 at the 11:26 mark giving it a lead of 55-47. 
• The lead would grow to 56-47 on a made free throw by freshman  Aiden Harris (Pandora-Gilboa), until MU would go on a 11-1 run and reclaim a 58-57 lead from ONU.
• After trading baskets, Reese would tie the game with a free throw at 66-66 with 1:19 remaining. Reese would sink two more free throws with 0:59 seconds left to give the lead back to the Polar Bears 68-66.
• The Muskies would have a chnace to tie it back up at the line but only could convert one out of the two shots. Will Miller would then push the lead to 70-67 with two more makes at the line. 
• Noah Langford (Perrysburg/Toledo Central Catholic) would force a turnover on the other end and give Miller two more free throws to ice the game. 
• Ohio Northern was 24-of-53 from the floor for 45.3 percent and made 4-17 three-pointers for 23.5 percent, while Muskingum finished 28-of-56 from the field for 50.0 percent and 3-of-17 from three-point range for 17.6 percent.
• ONU made 20-of-28 free throws for 71.4 percent and MU was 8-of-16 from the foul line for 50.0 percent.
• The Muskies out rebounded the Polar Bears 35-32.

Notables

• This is Northern's fifth straight win over Muskingum in the last 3 seasons. 
• Cunningham Jr. is ranked first in the conference in steals with 27 and assists with 73. 
• Ohio Northern is ranked 1st in the conference in points allowed per game with 66.5. 
• Theo Maag (Ottowa-Glandorf) is ranked first on the OAC in field goal percentage boasting a 64.8 percentage. 
• Ohio Northern continues its 114th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1379-1079, a winning percentage of .561.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his third season at Ohio Northern with a 31-30 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will face off at home against OAC opponent Wilmington on Wednesday at 7 p.m.