PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team made it two-straight home wins to open the season Wednesday night, holding on once again to emerge with a 73-67 victory over Case Western Reserve inside a well-attended Rike Center.
The Cardinals, now 2-0 under new head coach
Andy Winters, will finish up the week at Oberlin on Saturday evening. Start time for that contest is scheduled for 6 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Otterbein got off to a sluggish start offensively, trailing 15-9 by the midway point of the first half. The Cards used a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead and never trail again in the contest.
- Halftime saw Otterbein head to the locker room with a 32-29 edge, as neither team shot above 36 percent in the opening frame.
- Otterbein outscored Case Western 16-8 during an early stretch of the second half, opening its largest lead of the night (to 11 points) on three separate occasions.
- CWRU eventually responded with an 8-0 run to make it a one-possession game down the stretch. Otterbein only led 63-60 with a couple minutes remaining, but a key jumped from Kobe Long-Weber with 1:17 left made it a two-possession fame. A pair of defensive stops, followed by timely free throws from Zach Sawyer and Nick Koontz on ensuing trips up the floor, helped seal the deal.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Koontz (14), Reid Black (12) and Long-Weber (11) all scored in double figures for the Cards. Koontz also led all players with 12 rebounds and 34 minutes played for a scrappy double-double performance.
- Black just missed a double-double with nine boards himself. He also had two blocks and two assists while controlling the middle.
- Both sides combined to shoot just 9 of 52 from three-point range. The game saw 66 points from players off the bench.
UP NEXT:
- Otterbein looks for another win over Oberlin after topping the Yeomen, 81-67, last year in Westerville. Oberlin is currently 2-0 on the young season itself.
