Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's basketball team suffered an 87-83 defeat to Wilmington Wednesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup inside the Rike Center.

Otterbein drops to 7-15 overall and now sits at 3-12 in league play, which forces the team to win out and also receive help in order to potentially qualify for the postseason. The Cards did defeat their three remaining opponents (Muskingum, Ohio Northern and Mount Union) in the first respective meetings earlier this season.

Wilmington, meanwhile, earns a much-needed victory to stay alive for a shot at the upcoming eight-team OAC Tournament. The Quakers are now 9-13 on the year 4-11 against the league, keeping them one game back of Baldwin Wallace and Heidelberg.

WC jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the early going after converting four of its first six field goals, with the Cardinals' lone basket coming on a layup by guard Austin Springer in the team's opening possession. Guard Corey Howard ignited the Cards' offense on the next trip down the floor by sinking a three-pointer, sparking a 7-0 scoring run which tied the game at nine points apiece.

Wilmington notched 10 unanswered points to take a 19-9 advantage and then later stood on top, 34-27, with 3:53 to play before intermission. Otterbein closed the first half strong, embarking on a 14-4 run and taking the lead with 56 seconds remaining on a trifecta from swingman Cameron Arminio.

Wilmington's Will Patrick connected on a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 41-41. Otterbein finished the period with a 14-of-25 mark from the field (56 percent) while the Quakers shot the ball at a 53-percent clip.

The score remained close through the first eight minutes of the second half despite the Cardinals converting just one field goal, coming on a layup by Howard at the 12:18 mark.

Otterbein did manage to find their stroke from the foul line over that span, as Howard and forward Bryan Mackenzie accounted for a 6-of-6 mark. Wilmington conversely built a 15-point lead with a strong spurt, but saw it diminish by 4:20 remaining as Arminio trimmed the deficit to just five. 

The Cardinals came as close as one point (80-79) with 1:38 left on a four-point sequence, when Arminio netted a three-pointer and then Mackenzie split a pair of free throws in the double bonus after a foul that immediately followed under the hoop. Otterbein's last chance to tie or take the lead came with 11 seconds remaining when Howard missed a layup near the rim.

The Cards were paced throughout by Mackenzie, who posted a career-high 27 points on 5-of-13 shooting and a 16-of-18 mark from the foul line. He also snagged seven rebounds. Howard finished with 17 points while Springer and Arminio recorded 16 and 13, respectively.

Otterbein shot an astounding 30 of 33 from the foul line while Wilmington went 12 of 13 on its charity stripe. A total of 46 fouls were whistled over the course of the game, 30 of those against the Quakers.

Christian Jones hit a pair of timely three-pointers and ultimately scored 21 to lead four Wilmington players in double figures. Patrick added 16 while freshman Kameron Moore dropped 14 in just 13 minutes of action. The Quakers held a 46-28 scoring edge in the paint.