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WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Cardinals officially shrugged off their disappointing loss over the weekend to sweep the season series against Wilmington, traveling down for a 82-67 triumph over the Quakers as conference play begins to enter the nitty-gritty.

Otterbein, fresh off a 79-78 loss at Heidelberg, bounced back with an important victory to stretch above .500 in the Ohio Athletic Conference again. The Cards are now 13-7 overall (guaranteeing a winning regular season) and 7-6 within the league.

KEY MOMENTS:

• Otterbein opened the game on an 11-0 run, getting a triple from MJ Davis on its first possession and then multiple buckets from Chase Garito.
   
• The Cards remained on the throttle and led 22-8 approaching the midway point of the half until Wilmington settled in just a bit.
   
• The Quakers trimmed the gap to single digits before Jack Clement nailed a trifecta with 1:34 in the frame. Neither team scored over the final 94 seconds of the period.
   
• Wilmington sliced the margin back to eight early in the second half, but the Cards punched right back and doubled-up the lead to 16 across the next five minutes.
   
• Otterbein stretched that lead to as many as 20 down the homestretch and Wilmington shrunk the final margin with a few late buckets.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Freshman center Chase Garito continued evolving in his young career with a nice double-double, leading four Cardinals in double figures with a season-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds. He was 10 of 14 from the field.
   
• Julian Heckman scored 17 while Jack Clement (15) and Cam Evans (14) benefited the cause as per usual.
   
• Otterbein shot a smooth 55% collectively, including 10 trifectas, and needed just four made free throws to do its offensive damage. Wilmington shot 41% but was just 4 of 19 from downtown.
   
• The Quakers received 17 points from both Rashid Chisholm and Matthew Dugue. Domenic Farley, who did not play in the first matchup this season, added another 14.

 
BACK AT HOME:

• The Cardinals return to the Rike Center and close out the week against Baldwin Wallace, looking for another season sweep on Saturday after beating the Yellow Jackets in mid-December up in Berea. Tip is slated for 1 p.m.