ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team came up short in its regular-season final Saturday afternoon on the road, dropping an 88-76 contest at No. 4-ranked Mount Union inside the MAAC.
The Cardinals, settling with a 14-11 overall record, will now turn their attention to the postseason as they will occupy the fifth seed in the upcoming six-team Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament. Otterbein will travel to Marietta (4) for a quarterfinal matchup this coming Tuesday night.
Mount Union, clinching a share of the OAC regular-season title with John Carroll, improves to 23-2 on the year and receives a bye in the bracket. It will host a semifinal contest later in the week on Thursday.
HOW IT PLAYED OUT:
- Otterbein led 16-12 early and then also stood on top (18-17) nearing the midway point of the first half after a layup from Cam Evans.
- The Raiders kicked into gear with a big run from that point, posting a 13-0 stretch in which the Cardinals did not score for five minutes.
- Mount Union eventually carried a 45-31 edge into the halftime break.
- The hosts extended their lead to 22 early in the second half but Otterbein never stopped battling. Consecutive three-pointers from Brennan Rains down the stretch, followed with another trifecta from Mason Stuck, helped shrink the final margin to a dozen.
BOX SCORE NOTABLES:
- Evans (18-5-5) led all players with 18 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists, resting with a 17.7 per game average this winter. He will come up just short in the race for the OAC scoring title behind C.J. Napier (ONU) and Anthony Mazzeo (BW).
- Collen Gurley and Christian Parker both scored 17 to lead Mount Union, which also received five triple hits from Darrell Newson behind the arc.
- Mount Union was 24 of 29 at the free-throw line and committed just five turnovers the entire day.
- Five Cardinals reached double figures in scoring as Rains (14), Dallas Patrick (12), Julian Heckman (10) and Alex Hannah (10) joined Evans.
MOVING FORWARD:
- The Cardinals will look to beat Marietta after dropping a pair of regular-season games against the Pioneers. An automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament will be distributed to the conference tournament winner.
