WESTERVILLE — Graduate student Cam Evans scored 23 points to lead the Otterbein men's basketball team as the Cardinals fell 88-77 to Wooster in their 2024-25 home opener on Sunday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (1-1 overall), Wooster (2-0 overall)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans was 3-for-6 from 3-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line as part of his 23 points. He also had four rebounds.
• Senior Jared Kreager also scored in double figures, tallying 11 points. He matched Evans by going 8-for-8 from the foul line.
• Freshman Noah Gamble was 5-for-5 from the foul line and finished with nine points.
• Junior Troy Scowden stuffed the stat sheet with eight points and team-highs of 10 rebounds and six assists.
• Junior Julian Heckman added eight points, three rebounds and a team-best three steals.

Game Highlights

• First Half: Wooster built a 21-13 lead with 11:49 left in the first half, making four 3-pointers in that opening stretch. A layup from Heckman followed by a pair of free throws from Kreager got the Cardinals within four, 26-22, with 5:58 remaining, but Wooster responded by extending its lead to 11, 39-28, with 2:19 left. Otterbein was 6-for-6 at the foul line over the final 1:53, but the Scots took a 46-34 lead into halftime.
• Second Half: Aided by a trio of 3-pointers, Wooster extended its lead to 22, 70-48, over the opening 10:35 of the second half. Trailing 76-58 with 6:26 left, the Cardinals opened a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer from Evans. Scowden added a pair of free throws and a layup in that spurt to go with two free throws from Kreager, bringing the Cardinals within nine, 76-67 with 4:25 left. Otterbein cut the deficit to nine once again at 78-69 with 3:40 remaining, but that was as close as the Cardinals would come as Wooster closed out the 11-point victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 38.9% from the field and was 6-of-21 (28.6%) from 3-point range. Wooster shot 50.8% from the field and was 11-of-23 (47.8%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 29-of-33 (87.9%) from the foul line, while the Scots were 17-of-21 (81%). Otterbein out-rebounded Wooster by a 36-32 margin.

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 59-55 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Evans ranks 19th all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,269 points.
• Kreager matched his career high with 11 points.
• Scowden's 10 rebounds and six assists were both career highs.