WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team finished on the low side of a 77-55 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup with visiting Muskingum Saturday afternoon inside the Rike Center.
The Cardinals, back on the floor after having the middle of this past week off, drop to 207 overall on the season and 0-4 against the OAC. Muskingum, playing without standout leading scorer Marcus Demspey due to injury, improves to an even 4-4 overall and grabs its first league win of the year.
Both sides traded scores early on, with Otterbein trailing 13-12 after a nice layup from freshman
Reid Black at the 13:51 mark. The Muskies slowly created some separation from that point behind the strong play of point guard Devon Peart, using a 10-2 run that turned a 22-17 margin into a 32-19 advantage for the guests.
Otterbein hung tough momentarily and trailed by just eight, 34-26, with 3:30 remaining in the first half before Muskingum bumped its lead back to double digits by intermission.
Sophomore
Maurice Beavers made a jumper to begin the second-half scoring and the Cards trailed by 12, at 50-38, with 12:51 showing on the game clock before a lopsided Muskingum run occurred. The Muskies embarked on a 22-4 spurt over the next seven minutes, opening up a 30-point advantage and coasting down the stretch.
Peart controlled the day and led Muskingum with game-highs of 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 8-of-11 shooting in just 26 minutes of action. Mitch Clark added 13 points and five boards down low, as the Muskies shot 51 percent as a unit and finished with a 32-16 scoring edge in the paint.
Austin Springer led the Cardinals with nine points while
Eddie Anders added eight.
Justin Carter, the reigning OAC Freshman of the Year, scored four points in his season debut after missing the first eight games with an injury. The Cardinals shot 37 percent from the floor collectively.
Otterbein will play at John Carroll Tuesday night before heading south for the Tampa Bay Shootout come December 29-30. The Cards will play DePauw and then in the consolation or championship game.
