ADA, OHIO – The Otterbein University men’s basketball team moved to 2-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play Wednesday evening, winning 61-55 at Ohio Northern University.

The victory, which moves the Cardinals to 3-3 on the season, marks the first back-to-back victories over the Polar Bears since the 2004-05 season.

Ohio Northern falls to 4-2 overall this season, 1-1 against league foes.

The Polar Bears opened the contest on a 10-2 run, but Otterbein responded to take a 15-14 lead after a jumper from freshman RaNeal Ewing at the 8:31 mark.

The Cardinals pushed the advantage to 23-18 before ONU scored the final eight points of the opening half to take a 26-23 edge into halftime.

Otterbein would use two free-throws from freshman Andy Yazrombek to tie the game at 30-30, but the Bears would score the next eight points to seize a 38-30 lead with 13:03 showing on the game clock.

The Cards fought back yet again, going on a 12-2 run to jump ahead 42-40 on a jumper from sophomore Max Van Meter with 8:27 remaining.

The game would enter a see-saw battle down the stretch, seeing a tie of 51-51 before Otterbein rattled off six-straight points to lead 57-51 with 1:36 to play. The Cardinals would ultimately hold on to preserve the 61-55 victory.

Van Meter led all scorers with 15 points while Ewing finished with 14 points, including a perfect 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.

Senior Chris Davis, the reigning OAC Player of the Week, grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds despite being limited to only six points.

Branden Rushton paced Ohio Northern with 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting.

The Cards shot .431 from the field compared to ONU’s .400. Both sides combined to shoot just 5 of 29 from beyond the arc.

Otterbein returns home to finish out the week, hosting its home opener Saturday evening against 10th-ranked Marietta College. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.