UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — Graduate student Cam Evans led four Cardinals in double-figure scoring and senior Alex Hannah added a double-double as the Otterbein men's basketball team fell 71-61 at No. 23 John Carroll in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (10-8 overall, 5-6 OAC), John Carroll (14-4 overall, 9-2 OAC)
• Venue: DeCarlo Varsity Center - University Heights, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans led the Cardinals with 13 points to go with five rebounds and a team-best four assists.
• Hannah posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double to go with two assists.
• Junior Julian Heckman tallied 12 points and three assists.
• Senior Jared Kreager posted 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
• Sophomore Chase Garito added nine points, five rebounds and three assists.

Game Highlights

• First Half: John Carroll took an early 6-2 lead, but Otterbein answered with a 14-0 run that included six points on a pair of 3-pointers from Hannah along with two points each from Heckman, Garito, Evans and Kreager for a 16-6 lead with 15:05 remaining. The Blue Streaks later cut the deficit to two on a dunk from Luke Frazier, but Kreager answered with a 3-pointer to keep the Cardinals ahead. A jumper from freshman Noah Gamble gave Otterbein a 23-18 edge with 10:11 left before JCU responded with a 3-pointer and layup to tie the score at 23 with 9:10 remaining. After a triple from Evans gave the Cardinals the lead, the Blue Streaks tied the score at 26 on an and-1 and later went up 29-26 on a 3-pointer with 7:38 left. Another triple followed by a 2-point jumper put the home team up 34-28 with 5:39 remaining, but back-to-back baskets from Hannah and junior Brandon McLaughlin cut the deficit to two with 3:13 left. The Blue Streaks took a six-point edge, 40-34, into halftime. Kreager led the Cardinals in scoring at the break with 11 points.
• Second Half: Heckman opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to bring the Cardinals within three before JCU responded with a 5-0 to go up 45-37. Another Heckman triple followed by a jumper from Evans cut the deficit to three, 47-44, with 16:10 left, and back-to-back layups from Evans later put the Cardinals ahead 50-49 with 13:16 remaining. But JCU responded with a 12-0 run to take a 61-50 edge with 8:34 left. A pair of Heckman free throws followed by a layup from Garito brought the Cardinals within seven, 61-54, with 5:37 left before the Blue Streaks answered to extend their lead to 14, 68-54, with 4:18 remaining en route to the 10-point victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 41.9% from the field and was 6-of-28 (21.4%) from 3-point range. John Carroll shot 51.9% from the field and was 7-of-13 (53.8%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 3-of-7 (42.9%) from the foul line, while the Blue Streaks were 8-of-12 (66.7%). Otterbein out-rebounded John Carroll by a 32-25 margin.

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 68-62 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Evans ranks ninth all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,565 points. Mike McKinney ('82-'86) ranks eighth with 1,582 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 15 games this season and is averaging a team-high 18.8 points per game. He entered Wednesday ranked second in the OAC in scoring average (19.1 points per game) and free throws made (83) and third in free-throw percentage (83.8%).
• Hannah's 11 rebounds marked a career high in what was his second career double-double.
• Heckman has scored in double figures in 12 games this season and is averaging 11.5 points per game.
• Kreager has scored in double figures in eight games this season and is averaging 8.4 points per game.
• Otterbein entered Wednesday in fifth place in the OAC standings, two games behind a two-way tie for third between Heidelberg and Muskingum. John Carroll entered the night in second place, one game behind Mount Union.
• John Carroll is ranked No. 23 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
• John Carroll holds a 29-6 edge in the series against Otterbein dating back to 2008. In the teams' meeting earlier this season, on Jan. 8, the Blue Streaks came away with a 71-59 win in Westerville.