Written Dec. 19, 2009 by
Adam Prescott
WESTERVILLE, OHIO - Otterbein dropped an 81-66 decision to tenth-ranked Wilmington Saturday evening in the Rike Center.
The loss puts Otterbein at 1-8 on the season, 1-4 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the win moves Wilmington to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in league action.
Otterbein took a quick 8-2 lead, and pushed its advantage to 19-9 after senior Cory Ratai made a layup with exactly 11 minutes to go before the break.
The Quakers then responded with a 16-2 run to grab a 25-21 lead at the 5:04 mark when Nolan Darland made a layup.
Wilmington would eventually take a 40-33 lead into halftime.
OC hung close and pulled to within four, at 50-46, when junior Ian Gardner made his second of back-to-back buckets with 12:17 remaining in the contest.
Two free throws from senior Brian Pollock brought the Cards to within three at the 10:08 mark, but Wilmington responded with a 12-2 run over the next four minute to take a 69-56 lead with 6:38 to go.
Otterbein was never able to get any closer than nine the rest of the way en route to the defeat.
Pollock led all scorers with a game-best 28 points, including five three-pointers, while Ratai finished with 14 points and eight boards.
Sophomore center Chris Davis tallied a double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling in a game-best 13 rebounds.
Tyler White, the OAC's leading scorer, lead Wilmington with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Tyler Ledford had 17 points while R.J. Brown chipped in 14.
The Cardinals next travel to play Wittenberg on Tuesday, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.
