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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men’s basketball team suffered a 78-73 defeat at the hands of John Carroll University Wednesday night at Rike Center.
Otterbein University falls to 7-16 overall and 4-12 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Meanwhile, the win improves the Blue Streaks to 8-9 in league play, 11-12 overall.
John Carroll held a 68-58 lead with 5:21 remaining in the game before the Cardinals stormed back with a 12-4 run to pull within two, 72-70, with 1:05 to play in the contest.
After John Carroll split a pair of free throws to go up by three, Otterbein junior forward Max Van Meter put back a missed three-point attempt to cut the deficit to one, 73-72, with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
Following a Cardinal timeout, Van Meter was whistled for an intentional foul on John Carroll junior guard Ryan Angers. Angers sank both free throws and, with the ball going back to the Blue Streaks, split another pair of attempts to put John Carroll up 77-73 with just 14 seconds remaining.
Both teams split a pair of free-throw attempts in the final 12 seconds and Otterbein missed a three-point attempt with under six seconds to give the Blue Streaks the victory.
Otterbein freshman Jake Bischoff led three Cardinals in double-digits with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Van Meter posted 17 points, scoring 13 in the second half alone, and had a game-high eight rebounds, while senior Tommy Waterwash added 13 points.
John Carroll held a double-digit advantage for most of the first half and led by as many as 17 at one point. Otterbein chipped away at the hole to pull within 10 at the intermission, 40-30, when they closed out the final 2:54 on a 7-0 run.
The Cardinals managed to close the gap to four, 47-43, on a layup by sophomore Marshall Crum with 15:07 left in the game, but the Blue Streaks built their lead back to 11, 57-46, with 11:38 remaining in the contest.
Otterbein remained resilient and climbed back to within five, 60-55, with 7:47 to play in the game, but John Carroll responded once again and pushed their lead back to double-digits, 68-58, with 5:21 left in the game.
Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game, but the Blue Streaks hit 7 of 14 from three-point range compared to Otterbein who hit just 4-of-18 attempts. John Carroll also held a sizeable advantage from the foul line, hitting 21-of-27 attempts compared to the Cardinals 13 of 17 performance.
Junior Kyle Hubbard led the Blue Streaks in the win with a game-high 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 10 of 13 from the charity stripe.
Prior to the opening-tip, Otterbein honored its five seniors, Waterwash, Zach Bakenhaster, Kiley Gessner, Derek Dicke, and John Finnegan for their contributions to the Cardinal basketball program over the last four years. All five seniors earned a nod in the starting lineup.
Otterbein wraps up the regular season slate Saturday afternoon with a visit to Heidelberg University Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The winner will earn the seventh seed in the upcoming OAC Tournament while the loser will assume the eighth and final spot.
