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BEXLEY, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team secured its biggest victory in almost two calendar years Tuesday evening during a neutral-site matchup, holding off Ohio Wesleyan University by a score of 72-66 in the second outing of the NCAC/OAC Challenge, played at nearby Capital University.

The Cardinals essentially led wire-to-wire, trailing 3-2 in the opening minutes before playing with the lead the remainder of the way. Ohio Wesleyan, beginning the year ranked No. 8 in the national poll before recently dropping out after losses to Capital and No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan, now sits at 2-3 on the young season.

Otterbein, also 2-3 this season, will be back in action Saturday afternoon when it opens Ohio Athletic Conference play by hosting Heidelberg at 2 p.m.
 

The Cardinals took control early against Ohio Wesleyan, getting a combined 25 points from forwards Bryan Mackenzie and Matt Hughes in the opening half en route to a 35-25 advantage at intermission. The duo shot 11 of 16 over the initial 20 minutes as the Cards maintained a multi-possession lead.

Ohio Wesleyan, an NCAA Sweet 16 squad last winter, eventually found some momentum with a 10-2 run early in the second half to pull within a single point, at 43-42. Otterbein quickly regrouped, getting a corner three-pointer from Mackenzie and then an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman guard Nick Koontz to push the margin back to seven.

The Bishops remained within close striking distance and did all they could to pull even, but a composed Otterbein team answered the bell every time as OWU never got closer than four points the rest of the way. The margin had shrunk to five with 1:24 remaining, but Phillis managed to go 6 of 8 from the free-throw line in the closing 70 seconds to preserve the win.

Mackenzie paced the Cards with 22 points, one shy of his career-high set earlier this season, on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, connecting on all four free throws and also tallying a team-best eight rebounds and two steals.

Hughes and Koontz added season-bests of 19 and 12 points, respectively, while Phillis made it into double figures with 11. Otterbein won the rebounding battle, 40-28, and also held the edge in bench points (16-8) and second-chance scoring (19-11).

Ohio Wesleyan also put four players into double figured, led by 21 points from Seth Clark and 14 from standout point guard Nate Axelrod. Ben Simpson added a double-double effort of 10 points and 12 boards.

Both teams were solid from the free-throw line, with the Cardinals going a collective 18 of 23 (.783) and OWU even better at 14 of 15 (.933).