NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team kickstarted the first official day of holiday break with a bang Saturday afternoon, dominating final exams and then dominating Muskingum inside the Ann C. Steele Center.

The Cardinals held a marginal 36-29 lead at intermission before leaving little doubt in the final score across the second half, pulling away for a convincing 83-59 victory within OAC play. Otterbein is now 5-2 on the year as a whole.

THE SCRIPT:

• Muskingum held a slim lead early before a 13-2 push by the Cardinals changed momentum, resulting in a double-digit lead across the midway point of the frame.
   
• The Muskies regrouped to force a pair of time before actually taking a 28-27 lead with roughly four minutes to go before halftime. But Otterbein countered with a 9-1 rally itself (thanks to a couple layups and timely triple from MJ Davis) heading into the break.
   
• Otterbein quickly bumped the lead to 14 points early in the second half and never felt threatened moving forward.
   
• The Cards opened a 20-point gap nearing the middle portion of the second frame after consecutive three-pointers from Troy Scowden and Dallas Patrick. Otterbein led by as many as 27 down the stretch.

 
STATS ON STATS:

• The Cards shot 55% for the game compared to a 37% clip on the home side. Otterbein was 13 od 26 behind the arc.
   
• Cam Evans (17), Patrick (15) and Julian Heckman (13) all reached double figures in scoring for the Cards. Patrick added a game-high eight rebounds.
   
• Otterbein finished with a 34-22 edge in rebounding and also posted a sizeable 32-18 scoring edge in the paint.
   
• Both teams converted well at the line in combining to go 26 of 30. Evans was a perfect 6 for 6 himself.
   
• Otterbein has now defeated Muskingum six of the past seven matchups in this series.

 
LOOKING AHEAD:

• The Cardinals will have a pair of road games on deck next week, traveling up to Adrian on Thursday night before a Saturay afternoon tilt back in league play at Baldwin Wallace.