Box Score
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO – The Otterbein University men’s basketball team dropped an 80-69 contest at John Carroll University Saturday afternoon, falling to 2-2 in Ohio Athletic Conference play.
The loss puts Otterbein at 3-5 on the season, while the win bumps the Blue Streaks to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
JCU held a 13-5 lead early on, but Otterbein stayed close and drew to within 14-13 after a layup from senior Mark Louks.
Otterbein trailed just 23-20 with 7:48 to play before halftime, but John Carroll quickly widened its advantage to 34-22 before taking a 45-32 edge into intermission.
Otterbein sophomore Max Van Meter drained a three-pointer to begin the second half, and the Cardinals would use an 11-2 run to get back within four, at 47-43, by the 15:47 mark.
The Blue Streaks pushed the margin back to nine, at 54-45, by the 13:55 mark before two free throws from Otterbein senior Brice Rausch temporarily halted the momentum. The Cards would get no closer, as John Carroll rattled off 13 consecutive points to open a 67-47 lead with seven minutes to play.
Otterbein refused to go quietly, trimming the deficit to nine, at 72-63, with two minutes to play before falling 80-69.
Rausch finished with a game-high 17 points, shooting 5 of 9 from the field and 7 of 10 from the free-throw line. Senior Chris Davis posted 13 points and nine rebounds while Van Meter scored nine.
Conor Sweeney, Corey Shontz, and Mark Hester all tallied 13 points to lead the way for John Carroll.
Otterbein shot .581 from the field compared to just .310 for the hosts, but the Cardinals committed 23 turnovers while JCU gave the ball away just 12 times.
John Carroll made 13 of a staggering 40 three-point attempts, while Otterbein connected on just 3 of 8 from behind the arc. JCU also finished the game with a 44-32 edge on the glass, including a 25-5 advantage in offensive rebounding.
Otterbein returns to action Thursday evening, traveling to take on Wittenberg University. Tip-off from Springfield is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
