NEW CONCORD, Ohio – A new year recently arrived with the turn of the calendar, and a new stretch began for the Otterbein men's basketball team Saturday with a well-rounded Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) road win at Muskingum.
The Cardinals, pulling away to win 86-71, snag their first OAC victory of the season and snap a five-game losing skid as a result. Otterbein moves to 4-7 overall on the season with the triumph, and 1-3 against the league.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Muskingum opened the game on a 12-0 run, but Otterbein countered with a 21-4 spurt itself en route to grabbing a 21-16 lead. Sophomore Jake Justice buried two timely three pointers during the stretch.
- Otterbein maintained momentum by pushing the lead to as many as 13 before intermission, using five-straight points from Mo Beavers and also a trifecta from Kobe Long-Weber, before the Muskies closed the half on an 8-0 run.
- The Cards rattled off eight-straight points to begin the second period and never let the lead shrink below double digits going forward. The margin reached as many as 16 on two occasions, both following triples from Justice.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Otterbein matched its highest scoring output of the year, also posting 86 in the season opener against Franklin. The Cards had not scored over 60 during the losing streak.
- Otterbein finished with a commanding 35-0 advantage in bench points, including a career-high 18 from Jake Justice. He was 4 of 5 from downtown and converted all six free throws.
- A balanced offense saw four players reach double figures, led by 20 points from Dallas Patrick and a career-high 18 from Justice. Otterbein show 52 percent from the floor compared to just a 37-percent clip on the Muskingum side.
- Beavers tallied 16 points and six boards while Zach Sawyer corralled a game-high eight caroms, as the Cards won the rebounding battle 39-27.
- Muskie All-American Marcus Dempsey dropped 35 points on 9 of 20 shooting, while going 14 of 17 at the charity stripe.
UP NEXT:
The Cardinals will finally return home to the Rike Center after a full month away, hosting games with John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace next week.
