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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University men’s basketball dropped a close Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) outing Wednesday in the Rike Center, losing 82-73 to visiting Ohio Northern University.

The loss drops the Cardinals to 7-13 on the season and 4-9 against league foes, while the win moves the Polar Bears to 9-11 overall, 5-8 in the OAC.

Ohio Northern hit 7 of its first 12 shots from the field, including four straight three-pointers, to open the game, taking an 18-8 lead by the 13:13 mark.

The Polar Bears bumped the lead to as many as 15 in the first half, but the Cards stayed close and trailed by just nine, at 36-27, after a three from freshman Jake Bischoff with 3:20 to go in the half.

Otterbein went into intermission down 42-31, but found some momentum in the second half. A fast break dunk from junior Max Van Meter cut the deficit to 51-43, and a trifecta from Kiley Gessner moments later brought the margin to 56-50.

The Cards trailed 58-55 after a C.J. Julian layup with 10:38 to play, but the visitors eventually pushed their lead back to double digits by the 5:30 mark.

Otterbein would not go away, using a Van Meter layup with 59 seconds remaining to draw within four, at 74-70. Unfortunately, ONU’s Branden Rushton would bury four free throws down the stretch in helping Northern leave with the win.

Van Meter dropped 22 points off the bench to lead the Otterbein attack, going 8 of 12 from the field and making all six free throws.

Bischoff scored 11 while senior Zach Bakenhaster contributed an eight-point, eight-rebound effort.

Lucas Pennington scored 21 to lead Ohio Northern, while Rushton and Dominque Royal each had 20.

Otterbein finishes out the week at the University of Mount Union Saturday afternoon, tipping at 3 p.m. The Raiders won the first meeting, 66-60, earlier this season in Westerville.