ADA, Ohio - It was a night with multiple twists and turns (followed by a tough ending) for the Otterbein men's basketball team on Wednesday at Ohio Northern... as the Polar Bears began the New Year by outlasting the Cardinals in a 73-71 nail-biter.

The Cards, having beaten the Polar Bears four-straight times entering the night, forced overtime late before ONU would have the final say on a layup in the closing seconds. Otterbein sees its six-game winning streak snapped and now stands 9-3 overall, 3-2 against the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Both sides went into halftime locked at 41-41 after a frame that saw multiple ties and neither team lead by more than two possessions. The second period would be more of the same en route to stalemates at 56, 59 and 62 behind timely makes from behind the arc on each squad...

MJ Davis nailed a go-ahead trifecta with 46 seconds left but a quick 5-0 run from ONU, capped by a three-pointer from Adam Scott, gave the hosts a 67-65 lead. Otterbein called timeout and, not going anywhere just yet, came moving upcourt the other way to see Cam Evans draw a shooting foul heading to the time. He promptly converted both attempts to force overtime.

The low-scoring extra session became tied at 71 after trading a pair of 4-0 runs. Julian Heckman made a layup with just 23 seconds remaining to knot the game, but ONU standout C.J. Napier manufactured a layup on the other end with just 1.2 seconds on the clock.

Otterbein needed to go the length of the floor but still had one final chance out of a timeout. However, a bit of controversy ensued as the game clock appeared to have started early before the ball was inbounded. The Cards were unable to take any dribbles before their final heave and, despite a referee discussion, the play was never officially blown dead and no time was put back on the clock.

Evans and Dallas Patrick, reigning OAC Player of the Week, combined for 39 points to lead an Otterbein club that was out-rebounded by a 52-35 count.

Both teams shot 51% in the first half but combined to go just 18 of 61 (.295) across the second frame.

Napier matched Evans for a game-high 22 in the scoring column while also pulling down 13 boards. Scott went for 16 and 7 as ONU held a 44-28 edge on points in the paint.

Otterbein will return home for a key matchup with Heidelberg come Saturday in the Rike Center, kicking off a doubleheader at 5 p.m.