WESTERVILLE — Graduate student Cam Evans, junior Julian Heckman and redshirt junior Jarius Jones scored in double figures to lead the Otterbein men's basketball team to a 72-61 win over Baldwin Wallace in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (10-7 overall, 5-5 OAC), Baldwin Wallace (7-10 overall, 3-7 OAC)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans led the way for the Cardinals with 21 points and a team-best four assists to go with four rebounds and two steals. He was 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.
• Heckman made a pair of 3-pointers and tallied 16 points, five rebounds and two assists.
• Jones posted 10 points and three rebounds.
• Senior Jared Kreager added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. He was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Game Highlights

• First Half: Otterbein opened the game with an 8-0 run courtesy of two points each from senior Anthony Coppock, sophomore Chase Garito, Kreager and Evans. The Yellow Jackets responded to get back within two, 16-14, with 9:28 left, but the Cardinals continued to lead until Baldwin Wallace tied the score at 20 with 5:47 remaining. The Yellow Jackets took a 22-20 edge with 4:47 left, but the Cardinals answered with a 10-2 run, getting seven points from Evans and a 3-pointer from Heckman for a 30-24 edge with 1:38 remaining. Otterbein took a six-point lead, 32-26, into halftime.
• Second Half: The Cardinals extended their lead to eight on a jumper from Evans coming out of the break. The lead grew to 13 on a 3-pointer from Heckman with 15:59 left, and a layup from Jones made it an 18-point game, 49-31, with 13:26 remaining. The Yellow Jackets gradually cut into that lead, getting within eight, 65-57, with 2:12 left, but Kreager answered with a 3-pointer to keep the Cardinals comfortably ahead en route to the 11-point victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 52% from the field and was 5-of-11 (45.5%) from 3-point range. Baldwin Wallace shot 39.7% from the field and was 8-of-24 (33.3%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the foul line, while the Yellow Jackets were 7-of-11 (63.6%). Otterbein out-rebounded Baldwin Wallace by a 39-26 margin.

Quotes

• Head coach Andy Winters: "It's always good to start the second round of conference play with a win. I was proud of a couple guys who played different roles tonight and were able to step up and ultimately lead us to victory. There are still some things we need to work on, but this was a good win."
• Junior Julian Heckman: "This was a big game for us. The coaching staff likes to split up the season into thirds, and this was the first game in the final third of the season for us. We're trying to take these games one at a time, and now everything is more magnified because it's the final third of the season. It's like the season finale."

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 68-61 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Evans ranks ninth all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,552 points. Mike McKinney ('82-'86) ranks eighth with 1,582 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 14 games this season and is averaging a team-high 19.1 points per game. He entered Saturday ranked second in the OAC in scoring average (19 points per game), free-throw percentage (85.4%) and free throws made (76).
• Heckman has scored in double figures in 11 games this season and is averaging 11.5 points per game.
• Saturday marked the second time Jones has scored in double figures this season.
• Otterbein entered Saturday in fifth place in the OAC standings, one game ahead of a four-way tie for sixth between Marietta, Ohio Northern, Baldwin Wallace and Capital.
• Baldwin Wallace holds a 17-7 edge in the series against Otterbein dating back to 2013, but the Cardinals have won the past six meetings. In the teams' meeting earlier this season, on Dec. 7, the Cardinals came away with an 85-49 victory in Berea.