ADA — Trailing by nine at halftime, the Otterbein men's basketball team put together a strong showing in the second half for a 56-53 victory at Ohio Northern in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night. Senior Jared Kreager scored a career-high 14 points for the Cardinals, and graduate student Cam Evans added 14 points of his own to move into the top 10 all-time at Otterbein in career scoring.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (8-6 overall, 3-4 OAC), Ohio Northern (9-5 overall, 3-4 OAC)
• Venue: ONU Sports Center - Ada, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Kreager was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with three rebounds and two steals to go with his 14 points.
• Evans added a team-best nine rebounds to his 14 points.
• Junior Troy Scowden added 10 points and two assists.
• Senior Anthony Coppock finished with six points, three rebounds and two assists.
• Sophomore Chase Garito tallied six points and two rebounds.

Game Highlights

• First Half: A 3-pointer from Kreager followed by a jumper from Scowden gave Otterbein an early six-point edge, but ONU later evened the score at 13 with 9:30 remaining. The Polar Bears then put together a 13-4 run to go up by nine, 26-17, with 3:16 left. The Cardinals answered with a 6-0 run courtesy of four points from Garito and two from Evans to get within three with 49 seconds remaining. But Ohio Northern closed the quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers over the final 35 seconds, including one at the buzzer, to go into halftime leading by nine, 32-23.
• Second Half: Otterbein opened the second half with baskets from Coppock and Garito to cut the deficit to five, but ONU answered with a 3-pointer to go back up by eight. The Cardinals continued cutting into the lead, however, as a layup from junior Julian Heckman was followed by a layup from Scowden and a triple from Kreager to get the visitors within one, 35-34, with 14:52 remaining. Another ONU 3-pointer kept the Cardinals at bay, but a jumper from junior Brock Waits tied the score at 40 with 9:42 left. Otterbein took a four-point edge via back-to-back 3-pointers from Kreager and increased the lead to six, 52-46, on a pair of free throws from Heckman with 2:48 remaining. The Polar Bears made a timely 3-pointer to get within one, 54-53, with 16 seconds left and were then forced to foul to extend the game. Evans proved clutch at the free-throw line, making a pair of foul shots for a 56-53 Cardinal lead with 14 seconds remaining. Following an ONU turnover and foul, Coppock missed a pair of free throws to keep hope alive for ONU, but the Polar Bears missed a long heave at the buzzer, securing the win for the Cardinals.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 56.4% from the field and was 4-of-13 (30.8%) from 3-point range. Ohio Northern shot 40.8% from the field and was 7-of-23 (30.4%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the foul line, while the Polar Bears were 6-of-9 (66.7%). Otterbein out-rebounded Ohio Northern by a 26-25 margin.

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 66-60 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Evans ranks ninth all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,488 points. Mike McKinney ('82-'86) ranks eighth with 1,582 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 11 games this season and is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game. He entered Wednesday ranked second in the OAC in scoring average (19 points per game), tied for second in free throws made (58) and fourth in free-throw percentage (84.1%).
• Kreager's previous single-game career high scoring total was 11 points.
• Ohio Northern holds an 18-13 edge in the series against Otterbein dating back to 2009.