WESTERVILLE — Graduate student Cam Evans recorded his second consecutive double-double to lead the Otterbein men's basketball team to a 76-64 victory over The University of Olivet (Mich.) on the first day of the Smokey Ballenger Classic on Sunday.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (6-3 overall), Olivet (2-8 overall)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio
• The Smokey Ballenger Classic is a two-day, eight-game men's and women's basketball event collecting non-perishable food items for The Promise House and Westerville Area Resource Ministry (W.A.R.M.) and cash donations for the Coaches vs. Cancer cause. For more information, click here.

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans tallied a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists and two steals. He was 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
• Junior Julian Heckman posted 11 points, two assists and a team-best three steals.
• Sophomore Chase Garito added 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.
• Senior Jared Kreager tallied nine points and five rebounds.
• Senior Alex Hannah was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and finished with eight points and two rebounds.
• Senior Anthony Coppock posted seven points and a team-best five assists.

Game Highlights

• First Half: The teams played to a 9-all tie before Evans gave Otterbein the lead with a 3-pointer with 15:55 left. A triple from Heckman put the Cardinals up 29-26 with 3:30 remaining, but Olivet made it a one-point game, 31-30, with 1:48 left. Otterbein closed the half with a 6-0 run courtesy of two points each from Kreager, Evans and junior Troy Scowden to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
• Second Half: The Cardinals opened the second-half scoring with back-to-back 3-pointers from Kreager and Coppock for a 43-30 edge, and a triple from Evans put Otterbein up 46-33 with 16:57 left. Another 3-pointer from Evans extended the lead to 16, 51-35, with 15:14 remaining, but the Comets got within nine, 53-44, with 13:26 left. The lead shrank to four with, 64-60, with 5:23 left, but the Cardinals responded with a 10-0 run courtesy of six points from Garito and four from Evans for a 74-60 edge with 2:24 remaining en route to the 12-point victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 50.9% from the field and was 10-of-25 (40%) from 3-point range. Olivet shot 53.8% from the field and was 3-of-11 (27.3%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the foul line, while the Comets were 5-of-7 (71.4%). Otterbein out-rebounded Olivet by a 30-24 margin.

Notables

• Sunday marked Evans second consecutive double-double. He recorded 26 points and 10 rebounds in a win at Marietta on Dec. 17.
• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 64-57 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein and Olivet last played in December 2021, with the Cardinals coming away with a 63-60 win in Westerville.
• Evans is tied with Lorenzo Hunt ('66-'70) for 11th all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,404 points. Kelly McClure ('92-'96) ranks 10th with 1,484 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in seven of nine games this season and is averaging a team-high 19.7 points per game.
• Heckman has scored in double figures in seven games this season and is averaging 13.2 points per game.