Box Score NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's basketball team grabbed its first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) win of the season Wednesday evening, escaping with a thrilling 93-89 triumph in double overtime at Muskingum University.
The Cardinals snap a five-game skid with the victory, moving themselves to 2-7 on the season and 1-3 within OAC play. Otterbein will regroup to host cross-town rival Capital University Saturday, 5 p.m., as part of a men's and women's doubleheader.
"I think the guys have shown great perseverance throughout the past couple of weeks, playing in some close games although not getting the winning result," head coach
Brian Oilar said. "We made some plays at the defensive end tonight when we needed it and I think, in a close game, that it carried us through. It's a big win for us."
Both sides went back and forth in rather high-scoring first half, with Muskingum (3-7, 0-4 OAC) eventually taking a slim 39-38 edge into intermission. Both sides shot 48 percent in the opening half.
The Cards appeared as if they could be in trouble late in the second half, trailing 66-55 with 6:50 remaining in regulation before striking a late push. Otterbein quickly closed the game to five, 68-63, on three-pointers from
Marc McCuen and
Jake Phillis over the next couple minutes.
Junior
Bryan Mackenzie emerged to play a key role down the stretch, grabbing a few timely offensive rebounds to score six critical points and ultimately allow Phillis to bury a game-tying three-pointer with 1:02 left in regulation. Otterbein then had a chance to win the game with a final shot, but a turnover allowed Muskingum to embark on a dangerous fast break before a missed floater in transition put the game into overtime.
The Cards led for most of the first overtime, but a layup from Muskingum's Jacob Geller with 28 seconds remaining and a near miss from Phillis on the opposite end forced the matchup into a second overtime session.
Both sides traded buckets throughout the second OT, finding the contest locked at 89-89 with less than one minute remaining. The Cards took the lead for good on a go-ahead layup from junior
Grant Fenner with 25 seconds to play, and a defensive stop on the other end allowed Phillis to ice the game with a pair of free throws.
Phillis finished with a new career-high of 31 points, shooting 9 of 22 from the field, 6 of 10 from three-point range and making 7-of-8 free throws while playing all but two minutes of action. He also had five steals.
Mackenzie also turned in a memorable performance, going for career-highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds to keep his team in the game throughout. Nine of his 15 boards were on the offensive end.
"We were able to get the ball up on the rim and Bryan had a chance to offensive rebound," Oilar explained. "Some of those drives have been blocked, turned over or just didn't fall in recent games. Bryan was certainly a man in there tonight and lifted us on a few different occasions."
McCuen finished with 21 points while Fenner had 17, none bigger than his last two that put Otterbein ahead for good. Each was 8 of 13 from the field.
Both sides coincidentally shot an identical 33 of 71 from the floor, with Otterbein knocking down 16 of its 19 free-throw attempts. The Muskies held a 26-6 edge in bench scoring while the Cards, in large part to Mackenzie, posted a 22-11 edge in second-chance points.
"We will focus on having a good day tomorrow and take some mental reps, because a lot of guys played heavy minutes again," Oilar said when asked about moving on to play Capital. "Basketball is a sport where you have to turn it around quickly and shake off the last game, whether it was good or bad. The next game is always the biggest game of the year."
