BEREA, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team made it four-straight wins after a nice road decision Saturday afternoon, hanging on down the stretch for an 80-76 victory at host Baldwin Wallace.

The Cardinals exact a little bit of revenge over the Yellow Jackets following a tough defeat in last year's OAC Tournament quarterfinal, improving to a crisp 7-2 on the season as a result. Otterbein is now also 3-1 within the league.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:

• Baldwin Wallace led almost the entire first half, opening a double-digit lead on two occasions before Otterbein closed the gap entering halftime.
   
• The Cardinals held BW to just two points over the remaining five-plus minutes of the first half, trimming the deficit to one possession (36-34) entering the break.
   
• Otterbein fell behind by nine points early in the second half until storming back again, forcing deadlocks at 50 and 52 before taking a 55-53 lead on a trifecta from dedicated Cleveland Browns fan Brennan Rains. That was all part of a 12-4 run that pushed the Cards into a three-possession lead.
   
• A pesky BW side remained close down the stretch and only trailed 74-71 after a layup with just under a minute remaining. However, a key layup by Julian Heckman with 20 seconds left (followed by perfect free-throw shooting from Cam Evans) allowed Otterbein to escape.

 
STATS ON STATS:

• Evans scored 28 to lead all players, combining with Dallas Patrick (16) to account for more than half of Otterbein's team total. MJ Davis added a dozen himself while Rains added nine points and a career-high six rebounds off the bench.
   
• Otterbein shot an efficient 45% for the game, 44% from behind the arc and nearly (perfect 12 of 13) at the charity stripe.
   
• Baldwin Wallace, putting four in double figures, offset a poor shooting day from the outside by holding a 50-28 scoring edge in the paint.
   
• Zoltan Nagy, also a goalkeeper for the BW men's soccer team, tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.

 
UP NEXT:

• Otterbein will have 12 days off from action before hosting the annual Smokey Ballenger Classic in the Rike Center, opening vs. Alma on December 29.