Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team made it four wins in a row Wednesday evening on its home floor, emerging past Ohio Northern University by a score of 60-50 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action.

Otterbein, now an even 6-6 overall and 2-3 against the conference, achieves its first four-game winning streak since the end of the 2006-07 campaign. Ohio Northern, meanwhile, drops to 5-7 this winter and 3-2 within the OAC.

Both sides got off to a sluggish start offensively, with the game locked at just 4-4 by the 15:43 mark of the opening half. Otterbein found some rhythm while its defense remain locked in, helping push the Cards to a 19-9 run later in the period as part of 10-3 scoring spurt.

Ohio Northern remained within striking distance but the Tan and Cardinal maintained a multiple-possession lead through a low-scoring 20 minutes, heading into the locker rooms for halftime with a 27-20 advantage.

The Polar Bears out-rebounded Otterbein, 21-11, in the first half but also committed 11 turnovers in the compared to just four giveaways for the host squad.

Otterbein came out flying to begin the second half, ultimately forcing a visitor timeout after senior Bryan Mackenzie knocked down consecutive three-pointers in the opening minutes to give the Cards a 37-23 cushion.

The Cards held a double-digit lead until ONU made a furious rally in the closing minutes, slicing the deficit down to just eight, 55-47, with 56 seconds to go. Otterbein would eventually hang on in limiting ONU to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Polar Bears, entering the night third amongst OAC schools at 82.1 ppg., had reached 70 points in every other outing.

Mackenzie finished with a game-high 17 points while Matt Hughes (13) and Corey Howard (10) also made it into double figures.  The Cardinal defense held Ohio Northern to a 5-of-24 output from three-point range and the visitors attempted just four free throws.

Devon Allen scored 13 to lead ONU, which played the game down a pair of starters. Forward Aaron Thress secured a game-high 12 rebounds.

Otterbein will be finish out the week's action this coming Saturday afternoon at the University of Mount Union, traveling to Alliance for a 2 p.m. start. The Purple Raiders currently sit 9-3 overall and a solid 4-1 within league play.