NEW CONCORD, Ohio – It took a gritty performance on the road, but most victories away from home in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) typically do.

The same was in effect for Otterbein on Saturday afternoon just west at Muskingum, as the Cardinals emerged with a hard fought 68-64 victory (despite never trailing) without leading scorer Jack Clement due to a slight injury.

Otterbein, winning for the fifth-straight time in the series, moves to 10-5 overall this year and back to an even 4-4 within league action.

KEY MOMENTS:

• The Cardinals opened strong by taking an early 13-3 lead and were on top the rest of the way, albeit through some narrow margins. The Muskies inched back throughout the first half before Otterbein settled with a 29-23 lead at intermission.
   
• A stretch of mini runs from both sides ensued in the second half, where the Cards led by as many as nine but saw the hosts punch back each time and never go away.
   
• Various buckets from Muskingum forced one-possession scores with 4:48, 2:26 and 0:06 left on the clock, but Otterbein held serve every time…
   
• Neither team scored for over two minutes down the stretch as a 64-61 lead remained intact. A huge layup from Brock Waits (with 19 seconds remaining) finally pushed the gap to five and the Muskies missed a triple on the other end.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Cam Evans (22), Julian Heckman (16) and Troy Scowden (11) scored in double figures for Otterbein, with each also grabbing five rebounds.
   
• Waits and fellow guard Sean Marks both added seven off the bench, and Waits pulled down a season-high eight boards.
   
• Otterbein held Muskingum to 24% shooting in the first half.
   
• The Cardinals got to the rim nicely for the second time this week, scoring more than half their points (36) around the rim. That efficiency helped overcome a 6 of 23 effort from behind the arc.
   
• Luken Hill tallied a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Muskies.

UP NEXT:

• The Cardinals will get back on the road after MLK Day, traveling north to play nationally-ranked John Carroll on Wednesday night.