Box Score
TIFFIN, Ohio – The Cardinal men's basketball squad suffered a 99-85 loss at Heidelberg in a high-scoring affair on Saturday afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action inside Seiberling Gymnasium.
Otterbein (0-7 overall) drops to 0-2 in conference play and will welcome six days off from competition before turning its attention to a meeting with cross-town rival Capital next Saturday back home inside the Rike Center. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
Freshman
Justin Carter led the Cardinals in scoring for the second-straight contest, and fourth time through the first seven games, notching 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
Carter got off to a solid start for Otterbein with 10 first-half points, while senior
Corey Howard contributed eight of his own. But a 7-0 start for the Student Princes stifled any offensive rhythm for the Cards, as they did not score their first field goal until nearly four minutes in.
Otterbein battled back though before the end of the first half, turning its deficit to 28-20 around the eight-minute mark and eventually pulling within three points at 34-31 with 4:51 remaining.
Senior
Matt Hughes, who scored four points in the frame, was the only other Cardinal with more than three points in the first half as the team entered the break trailing 48-35.
The Cardinals' closest margin of the game to the Berg came with 11:56 left in the game as freshman
Maurice Beavers converted a layup to make the score 62-60. Heidelberg then stepped on the gas offensively once again en route to a 14-5 scoring run to go ahead by 11 points with eight minutes left.
Otterbein again cut its deficit to single-digits with less than a minute left on the clock before Heidelberg converted 4-of-6 foul shots, along with a layup in transition, to seal the victory in its OAC opener and move to 3-2 overall.
In addition to Carter's team-high in the scoring column, Beavers and senior
Nick Nossaman tallied 12 points apiece, while Howard and freshman
Gabe Watson each checked in with 11 points.
