Box Score
ADA, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team began the 2018 calendar with a road loss in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Wednesday evening, enduring a slow start and eventually falling 82-59 at the hands of host Ohio Northern.

The Polar Bears (9-3, 4-1 OAC) opened a sizeable 28-10 lead by the midway point of the first half to capture some early momentum. Otterbein chipped away, going on a 21-8 spurt down the stretch of the opening period to trail just 36-31 as halftime neared.

Ohio Northern closed the frame strong with consecutive layups and then got the margin back to double digits by the 16:09 mark of the second half. The Cards continue to battle, trailing by only 12 with 8:39 left in regulation before ONU slowly pulled away down the stretch.

Junior Connor Clark led Otterbein with 14 points, scoring 12 in the first half and ultimately finishing 7-of-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds. He was the only Cardinal to reach double figures, as Maurice Beavers added nine, Eddie Anders posted eight and Austin Springer chipped in seven.

Otterbein shot 40 percent from the floor, but connected on just 4 of 23 from behind the arc while the Polar Bears made 9 of 21 three-pointers. The Cards held a 33-0 edge in bench scoring as Ohio Northern predominantly employed a solid five-man rotation.

Nate Burger poured in a game-high 26 to lead the hosts while Ryan Bruns dropped 20. Both players also snagged a game-best eight boards.

Otterbein (0-12, 0-5 OAC) will be back home to finish out the week, hosting Mount Union on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.