Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's basketball team fell to Heidelberg, 70-53, in its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener on Saturday afternoon inside the Rike Center.

Otterbein (2-4 overall) will look to even their league record next Tuesday as they host No. 4-ranked Marietta inside the Rike Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The two teams traded baskets through the opening 20 minutes of action, as neither side gained any more than a two-possession lead. Otterbein scored the first two baskets of the game before the Berg connected on back-to-back three-pointers to take its first lead of the game at the 15:54 mark.

Consecutive scores by junior Michael Howard and freshman Andrew Valeri with 11:27 left in the period helped the Cards take a 14-10 advantage, followed by a scoreless streak for both teams that lasted over two minutes.

Junior Matt Hughes gave Otterbein its largest lead of the game at 18-13 with just under eight minutes remaining, before Heidelberg manufactured 16 points to end the half with a four-point lead. Both squads shot under 40 percent for the frame, as Hughes led team with six points.

Neither team managed to find the bottom of the net for nearly three minutes into the second half until Heidelberg's Chris Moxley, who tallied a game-high 13 points, scored a layup to extend the Student Princes' lead to six points.

The Cardinals could not manage to generate much offensively for the remainder of the game, shooting 25 percent in the frame, falling behind by double-digits at the 14:43 mark and trailing by as many as 17 points. The Berg shot an even 50 percent in the half, converting 16-of-32 shots from the field to finish at 43.9 percent on the afternoon.

Senior Bryan Mackenzie led the Cards with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, making 3-of-4 shots from charity stripe to accompany four rebounds and a pair of steals. Hughes and freshman Austin Springer each scored 10 points, combining for an 11-of-16 mark from the foul line.