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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's basketball team dropped a pair of outings at its annual Smokey Ballenger Classic over the weekend, falling 90-71 to Ohio Christian University on day one before an 89-64 defeat at the hands of 23rd-ranked Centre College (Ky.) Saturday evening.
The Cardinals, falling to 1-3 on the season with the losses, will return to action Wednesday evening with a 7:30 p.m. non-conference outing at Wittenberg University.
Both Centre and Ohio Christian finished with a pair of wins during the event, which also featured NAIA schools Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Point Park University.
Day 1 vs. Ohio Christian
The Trailblazers held a 10-9 advantage five minutes into play before opening a 24-15 margin with 10:54 to go in the first half.
Both sides settled into a fast-paced, back and forth contest as OCU eventually bumped its lead to double digits, 34-21, with 6:38 to go in the period. Otterbein hung tough, battling back behind the strong play of freshman Grant Fenner and Jake Phillis to cut the deficit to just six by halftime.
Ohio Christian opened a 14-point advantage, its largest of the contest to that point, just minutes into the second half. An old-fashioned three-point play from Phillis brought the Cardinals back within single digits at the 12:09 mark, and Otterbein later trailed by only eight, at 67-59, after sophomore Jake Bischoff buried a three-pointer.
The Trailblazers responded moments later, getting a two-handed dunk from Lawrence Parsons with 8:28 to play as the start of a 10-2 run that ultimately put the game out of reach.
Bischoff finished with a game-high 21 points, going 7 of 19 while making 4 of 9 from beyond the arc. Phillis posted an all-around effort of 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists while sophomore post Marshal Crum had a double-double with 10 points and 10 caroms.
Danny Shrock paced the Ohio Christian offense with 16 points while Wesley Russell flirted with a triple-double, registering 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven dimes.
The Trailblazers went 14 of 31 from three-point range on the night compared to Otterbein's 6 of 20 effort in the category.
Each side shot over 40 percent from the field, but OCU held a 22-6 edge in second-chance points. Both benches combined to score 73 of the 161 points in the game.
Day 2 vs. Centre
Otterbein fell into an early hole on day two against No. 23 Centre, seeing the Colonels jump out to a 23-9 lead midway through the opening frame.
The Cards attempted to regroup out of a timeout, but the visitors eventually strung together another scoring spurt to open a 34-18 advantage with 6:18 to play before intermission.
The Colonels extended the margin to 47-28 by the break, and later ballooned the lead to 30 five minutes into the second half.
Otterbein continued to scrap and fight, eventually cutting the deficit under 20 as the game clock ticked under 7:00 in regulation. The uphill climb would ultimately be too much as the Colonels (3-1) preserved the win.
Phillis and Bischoff combined to score 21 for the Cardinal offense, which shot .373 from the field compared to the blistering .583 output from Centre.
Donovan Whiteside and Tyler Wesley each scored 21 to lead four Colonels in double figures.
