NEW CONCORD — In a battle featuring the league's top two scorers, the Otterbein men's basketball team dropped a tight battle at Muskingum in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday, falling 75-69. The OAC's second-leading scorer on the season, Otterbein graduate student Cam Evans, outdueled the league's leading scorer, Muskingum junior Duane Davis, in the scoring column, however, 21 to 13. The Cardinals also put together an impressive showing at the free-throw line, making all 23 of their attempts.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (7-6 overall, 2-4 OAC), Muskingum (7-6 overall, 5-1 OAC)
• Venue: Steele Center - New Concord, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans added three rebounds and two assists to his team-high 21 points. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.
• Junior Troy Scowden posted 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
• Senior Anthony Coppock tallied 12 points and two rebounds. He was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
• Junior Julian Heckman finished with six points and five rebounds.
• Redshirt junior Jarius Jones added six points, four rebounds and two assists.

Game Highlights

• First Half: Otterbein opened up an early 7-3 lead, getting three points from senior MJ Davis and two each from Coppock and Evans. Trailing 10-9, the Cardinals took a 15-12 edge into the first media timeout with 13:32 remaining on the strength of four points from Coppock and two from Evans. The teams continued playing within a three-point spread until senior Alex Hannah gave the Cardinals a six-point cushion, 22-16, courtesy of a 3-pointer with 11:11 remaining. Scowden later converted a steal by Hannah into a layup to increase the lead to eight with 10:07 left before Muskingum was able to stop the run. A layup from Scowden stretched the lead to 10, and a pair of free throws from Jones made it a 12-point edge, 30-18, with 8:27 left. The Muskies responded with a 3-pointer to get back within single digits, but another Scowden layup put the Cardinals back up by 11. Evans followed with a layup to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game thus far at 13, 34-21, with 6:54 remaining. Trailing 38-28 with 3:50 left, the Muskies put together a 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer to tie the score with 1:11 remaining. The Cardinals regained the lead on a pair of free throws from graduate student Brennan Rains, and the Muskies tied the score at 40-all with two free throws at the other end with 30 seconds left en route to the tie score at halftime. Evans led a balanced Cardinal scoring attack at the break with 10 points.
• Second Half: An and-1 put Muskingum up 46-42 with 15:10 remaining, but Scowden answered with a layup to keep the Cardinals close. The Muskies went up by five, 51-46, courtesy of a 3-pointer with 13:34 left and later split a pair of free throws to make it a six-point game. Another 3-pointer stretched the Muskies' lead to seven, 55-48, with 11:15 remaining before Evans cut it to two with an and-1 and 2-point jumper on back-to-back possessions. Muskingum went up by eight, 61-53, on a pair of free throws with 7:12 remaining, but the Cardinals were able to methodically cut into that deficit. A pair of Coppock free throws got Otterbein within four with 5:01 left, and Evans added two more free throws to get the Cardinals within two, 63-61, with 4:21 remaining. After a Scowden layup had the Cardinals within two with 2:33 left, the Muskies answered with a 3-pointer for a five-point edge. Evans made a pair of free throws on the ensuing Otterbein possession to get the Cardinals within three, 68-65, with 1:57 remaining. Muskingum converted a layup on the other end, but a pair of free throws from Heckman kept Otterbein within three, 70-67, with 1:13 left. Out of a timeout, the Muskies drained a deep 2-pointer to take a five-point edge with 57 seconds remaining, but a turnaround jumper from Evans got Otterbein within three with 48 seconds left. The Muskies made just one of two foul shots at the other end, but a missed 3-pointer from Heckman gave them back possession. They made their next two free throws to lead by six, 75-69, with 13 seconds left, and a missed 3-point shot from Evans sealed the victory for the home team.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 44.9% from the field and was 2-of-11 (18.2%) from 3-point range. Muskingum shot 46.2% from the field and was 9-of-21 (42.9%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 23-of-23 (100%) from the foul line, while the Muskies were 18-of-23 (78.3%). Otterbein out-rebounded Muskingum by a 27-26 margin.

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 65-60 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Evans ranks 11th all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,474 points. Kelly McClure ('92-'96) ranks 10th with 1,484 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 10 games this season and is averaging a team-high 19 points per game. The reigning OAC Player of the Week, Evans (18.8 points per game) entered Saturday ranked second in the OAC in scoring average behind Muskingum's Duane Davis (21.1 points per game).
• Coppock's 12 points marked a single-game career high. His previous best was eight points, which came against Hanover earlier this season on Dec. 30.
• Scowden's 14 points marked a season best. His single-game career high is 15 points, which came against Heidelberg during his freshman season.
• Otterbein holds a 22-11 edge in the series against Muskingum dating back to 2008. The Cardinals had won six straight games in the series entering Saturday.