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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's hoops team suffered a pair of losses in its annual Smokey Ballenger Tournament over the weekend, falling to Albion on Friday before dropping a heartbreaking contest at the buzzer against Centre in the consolation game Saturday afternoon.
 

The Cardinals will now flip the calendar to the 2018 portion and look to notch their first win of the season in the New Year. Otterbein will play at Ohio Northern next Wednesday in Ada at 7 p.m.
 

Friday vs. Albion (71-61 loss)
 

Otterbein fell behind 9-2 early on as a jump shot by freshman Justin Carter served as the only points for the Cards in the opening minutes. 
 

The Cardinals cut into the lead just over a minute later to pull within one possession before the Britons took their first double-digit advantage of the game at 21-11 around the 10-minute mark. 

Albion took what proved to be its largest lead of the night opening up a 15-point spread with 1:29 left until halftime, before consecutive baskets by junior Andre Bradley and senior Matt Hughes narrowed the Cards' deficit to 33-22 at the break. 
 

Otterbein posted its best scoring stretch of the contest to open the second frame, as a pair of free throws by Hughes and a three-pointer on the ensuing possession by freshman Justin Carter pulled the Cards within nine points. 
 

Just under a minute later the Cardinals finished off a 10-2 scoring run to shrink the margin to 35-32 in favor of the Britons. Freshman Hunter Dennison netted a shot from beyond the arc two possessions later to pull Otterbein within two points, before Albion regained a six-point lead shortly after.
 

The Cards again manufactured a solid scoring run just minutes later with a 10-4 output to tie the game at 45 points apiece, before going cold from the field over the next six minutes leading to a 61-47 lead for the Britons with under five minutes remaining. 
 

Otterbein managed to cut the lead to four points with less than a minute to play before back-to-back turnovers led to multiple trips to the foul line down the stretch for Albion.
 

Carter finished with a team-high 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting to go with four rebounds, while senior Corey Howard scored 12 points including a pair of treys. Hughes followed with 11 points and tied junior Connor Clark for a team-best eight boards. Albion had five players check in with double-digit scoring efforts. 

 

Saturday vs. Centre (81-79 loss)
 

Both sides traded baskets throughout the first half, with Otterbein holding an 18-15 advantage before the Colonels embarked on a 21-8 scoring run to open a double-digit lead. Center would eventually carry a 44-34 edge into the break.
 

The Cardinals opened the second half with a bang as guard Nick Koontz scored eight points in the opening two minutes, keeping his team within an arm's reach. Centre kept trying to pull away and held a 68-63 lead with 9:13 remaining, but a pesky Otterbein squad hung tough every step of the way and later tied the matchup at 70-70 on a jumper from Howard.
 

The Colonels went ahead on a three-pointer but the Cards answered right back, getting an old-fashioned three-point play from Gabe Watson and assume a 75-73 cushion.
 

A layup from Carter gave Otterbein a 79-76 advantage with 52 seconds left until Center guard Perry Ayers locked things back up by converting a layup and ensuing free-throw following a foul. 

Otterbein took a long three-pointer relatively early in the shot clock on its final possession, clearing the way for Centre to call a timeout on the opposite end. Jacob Bates promptly finished the game by drilling a fall-away buzzer beater from the left wing, on a broken play, as time expired.
 

Koontz scored 15 points to lead four Cardinals in double figures, with Carter, Howard and sharpshooting freshman Eddie Anders all contributing 13. Anders did his damage in just 13 minutes off the bench.
 

Otterbein shot 51 percent as a team, its second-highest rate of the season, and made 10 three pointers. Centre, meanwhile, connected on a 55-percent clip and received a game-high 23 from Bates.
 

The Colonels finished with a 17-4 edge in points off turnovers, giving the ball away just five times. Both sides combined to go an efficient 21 of 24 from the charity stripe.