Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team broke through for its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating Heidelberg 78-69 in front of a sizeable crowd inside the Rike Center.

Otterbein, now 1-18 on the year, moves to 1-11 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play and snaps its 30-game losing streak dating back to last season, a skid third-year head coach Brian Oilar is happy to have in the rearview mirror.

"Today is a direct result of how we've been working the last few weeks," Oilar said. "We haven't gotten the outcomes we've wanted, but we had some really good practices and the result comes from our daily processes and the guys sticking to them and continuing to believe."

Believe they did as the Cardinals saw four of its players score in double figures, led by 14 points apiece from senior Corey Howard, junior Connor Clark and sophomore Nick Koontz. Freshman Justin Carter also played well despite foul trouble midway through the second half, adding 13 points of his own.

"Everyone who came into the game contributed in a positive way," Oilar noted. "I don't want the focus to be on any one player in today's win. The message going into today's game was we have 21 guys on the team and we need to work together towards one goal."

Heidelberg (8-11, 4-8 OAC) got off to a hot start from the field with a 7-2 advantage through the first couple minutes, before Carter converted a three-pointer to pull the Cards within two points. Clarke gave Otterbein its first lead of the game just under the 16-minute mark, laying in a basket underneath the rim to make the score 11-9 in favor of the Cards.

The Cards opened up a seven-point lead with 11:04 left in the half, before the Student Princes capitalized off an 8-0 scoring run to jump back in front 24-23. Otterbein then revived its scoring effort despite trailing by five points with less than five minutes remaining, ending the initial frame on a 17-0 run to take a 46-34 lead.

Carter, Koontz and senior Matt Hughes accounted for the team's final 17 points of the half, as the Cardinals shot 58 percent from the floor including five three-pointers.

Otterbein quickly upped its advantage to 14 points as the second half began, proving to be its largest lead of the afternoon. Heidelberg clawed its way back into the contest though with a 15-2 run which spanned nearly seven minutes, cutting the deficit to 54-53 with 9:33 remaining.

The Cardinals then scored the next six points to take a 60-53 lead, before the Berg again moved within one possession at 62-59 with just under seven minute to go. Otterbein proceeded to twice go ahead by nine points, while also making 12-of-14 foul shots down the stretch to ward off any comeback from its opposition.

Otterbein ended the game shooting 46.6 percent from the field to Heidelberg's mark of 50.9 percent, with the Cards owning a distinct 15-4 margin in second-chance points. The Berg was led by Kiere Bennie with 18 points.

The Tan and Cardinal finish of a two-game home stint Wednesday night against nationally-ranked John Carroll. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.