Reese and Cunningham Jr. combine for 33 points, but Men's Basketball falls just short against Otterbein 56-53

ADA — Ohio Northern men's basketball team came up just short in a defensive battle 56-53 against Otterbein on Wednesday night in an Ohio Athletic Confrence showdown. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (9-5 overall, 3-4 OAC), Otterbein (8-6 overall, 3-4 OAC).
• Venue: ONU Sports Center - Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Sophomore Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Westerville/South) led the Polar Bears with 17 points and also grabbed 5 boards.
• Sophomore Carter Reese (Westerville/North) added 16 points and dished out 3 assists.
• Junior Will Miller (Ottoville) added 10 points 
• Sophomore Theo Maag (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) added 6 points and brought in 6 rebounds   
• Jared Kreager and Cam Evans both led the Cardinals with 14 points each.
• Otterbein would come out early and fast taking a 9-3 lead with 6:01 gone in the first half.
• Ohio Northern would respond by going on an 18-6 run over the next 8:49 to go up 21-15. 
• A 6-0 run by ONU with 35 seconds left including a buzzer beating three-pointer by Miller would give them a 32-23 lead going into the half.  
• The Cardinals would once again start the half strong with a 12-3 run in the first 5:08 to tie the game at 35-all. 
• Otterbein would use a 9-2 run to take the lead at 46-42 with just 6:46 remaining in the game. 
• ONU would be down 52-48 with :40 to go when two made free throws by Cunningham Jr. would cut the lead to 52-50.
• After two made free throws by Otterbein, Reese would hit a three-point shot from deep in the corner to cut the lead to 54-53 with 16 seconds remaining.
• Otterbein would respond with two more made free throws, and on the following possession with a chance to tie Ohio Northern would turn the ball over with :06 left.
• However Otterbein would miss both attempts at the line giving Northern one last chance at a half court heave, but it would not fall. 
• Ohio Northern was 20-of-49 from the floor for 40.8 percent and made 7-of-23 three-pointers for 30.7 percent, while Otterbein finished 22-of-39 from the field for 56.4 percent and 4-of-13 from three-point range for 30.8 percent.
• ONU made 6-of-9 free throws for 66.7 percent and OU was 8-of-12 from the foul line for 66.7 percent.
• The Pioneers out rebounded the Polar Bears 39-30.

Notables

• Ohio Northern now leads the all time series 45-25 with Otterbein.
• Cunningham Jr. is ranked first in the conference in steals with 33 and assists with 87. 
• Ohio Northern is ranked 1st in the conference in field goal percentage (48.4%), turnovers forced (15.5 tpg), and points per game allowed (66.1  ppg).
• Maag is ranked first on the OAC in field goal percentage, boasting a 65.3 percentage. 
• Ohio Northern continues its 114th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1380-1081, a winning percentage of .561.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his third season at Ohio Northern with a 32-32 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will be at home against on OAC opponent Mount Union on Saturday at 3 p.m.