WESTERVILLE, OHIO – The Otterbein University men’s basketball team (2-3, 0-1 OAC) hosts Ohio Northern University (2-3, 0-1 OAC) Wednesday evening in the Rike Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Both teams enter the contest after narrowly falling in their conference openers this past Saturday. The Cardinals lost 84-81 to Mount Union and ONU fell 65-64 on a buzzer-beating layup from Muskingum in overtime. ONU also suffered a one-point loss at Trine (71-70) before opening its conference slate. 

Otterbein is paced by a pair of juniors in center Chris Davis and guard Brice Rausch. Both rank among the top ten in the Ohio Athletic Conference with an even 17 ppg, while Davis also sits in the top ten in the Ohio Athletic Conference in rebounds (8.2 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.554). 

Sophomore Zach Bakenhaster is pulling down 7.6 rebounds per outing, while freshman point guard C.J. Julian leads the conference with 5.4 assists per game. 

As a team, the Cardinals sit atop the league in field-goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to just .391 shooting from the field. In addition, the squad ranks second among all OAC schools with a +10.5 rebounds margin. 

Ohio Northern is led by 6’9” junior Scott Schnelle, who leads the Polar Bears in points (12.8 ppg), rebounds (7.8 rpg), assists (14), and minutes per game (30.4). His scoring and rebounding marks are good enough to rank among the top ten in the league. 

Sophomore Taylor Kuhlman and freshman Joe Staley are adding 11.2 and ten ppg., respectively, to the Northern offense while freshman Jared Hortsman has connected on 10-of-18 three-pointers this season en route to a 9.4 ppg average. 

The Polar Bears swept the season series a year ago, earning victories of 75-72 and 71-61. 

The game will be broadcasted live on WOBN 97.5, and can be listened to by clicking here.