Box Score WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team came up short in its season finale Saturday afternoon, taking a 79-69 loss at the hands of visiting Heidelberg University inside the Rike Center.
The Cardinals finish their season at 4-21 overall, and 2-16 within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play, while the Student Princes improved to 14-11 on the season and an even 9-9 against the league. Heidelberg will be sixth seed in next week's OAC Tournament.
The game saw early ties at 10-10 and 15-15 before Heidelberg opened a cushion with a 9-0 run, taking a 24-15 advantage with 5:54 to play before the half. The Berg' bumped the margin to 11 before taking a 36-27 lead into intermission, but Otterbein stayed closed and cut the deficit back down to five, 38-33, early in the second period.
Heidelberg led by just eight, 60-52, with 8:01 remaining before finding enough breathing room for good with a 9-2 spurt that ran the advantage to 15. Otterbein trimmed the gap down to nine on a couple occasions before settling for the defeat.
Junior point guard
Jake Phillis did his best to carry Otterbein throughout, finishing with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Darrell Miller III and
Griffen Robinette both chipped in 10 for a Cardinal team that shot 39 percent for the game.
Heidelberg finished at a 44-percent clip from the field, getting 19 points from Myron Prewitt and 14 from Kiere Bennie.
Prior to the game, Otterbein's lone senior,
Marc McCuen, was recognized for his contributions to the program since his arrival. He tallied seven points and five rebounds in what was his final collegiate game.
