TIFFIN, OHIO – The Otterbein University men’s basketball team dropped a 73-62 contest at Heidelberg University Wednesday evening, falling to 8-16 overall and 5-12 in Ohio Athletic Conference play.
The loss drops the Cardinals into an eighth-place tie with Heidelberg and Muskingum University in the conference standings, while the University of Mount Union now sits seventh with a 6-11 mark in the OAC.
The Cardinals will now need a victory over Wilmington College Saturday evening paired with a Muskingum loss at Capital to secure a spot in the eight-team conference tournament.
Mount Union and Heidelberg play one another Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Cards hold the tiebreaker over the Purple Raiders, but not with Heidelberg as a result of dropping both regular season meetings.
The game remained within a one-point differential over the opening nine minutes, but Otterbein then sprinted on a quick 9-2 run to open a 20-13 lead by the 7:19 mark.
Heidelberg remained close, slowly battling back to tie eventually tie the game at 28-28 before taking a slim 30-28 edge into halftime.
The Student Princes scored 11 of the first 15 points of the second half, pushing the lead to 41-32 in what was all part of a 20-6 run dating back to 4:01 in the opening stanza.
Otterbein trailed just six, at 53-47, after a Jason Davis jumper, but a 10-2 Heidelberg run bumped the lead to 63-49 with 7:29 to go. The Cards wouldn’t get any closer the remainder of the way en route to the defeat.
Senior forward Chris Davis led the Cardinal effort with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Max Van Meter chipped in 13 points. Heidelberg was led by Lee Renner who finished with16 (3 for 3 from beyond the arc).
The Cardinals struggled from downtown, shooting just 1 of 11 from three-point range.
Saturday’s contest with Wilmington will be the final regular season home game for legendary Otterbein head coach Dick Reynolds, who will be retiring at season’s end. Click here for more information on “Dick Reynolds Appreciation Day.”
Chris Davis, Brice Rausch, Steve Isaac, and Mark Louks will be honored prior to tip-off as part of Senior Night.
