WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Men's basketball kept the momentum rolling Tuesday night inside the Rike Center, improving to 3-0 with an 83-70 victory over La Roche.

Senior Julian Heckman delivered a standout all-around performance with 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals to pace the Cardinals. Senior Troy Scowden followed with 18 points, two rebounds, a steal and a block. Junior Chase Garito added 12 points, three rebounds and three assists, while freshman Dominic Theado posted 10 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Noah Gamble rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.

Otterbein came out firing, jumping to a 10-0 lead before the Redhawks got on the board at the 17:00 mark. La Roche slowly worked its way back, but the Cardinals kept extending the advantage and took a 43-28 lead into halftime.

La Roche opened the second half with a quick bucket and later pieced together a surge midway through, trimming the deficit all the way down to 59-56 after a three-pointer, layup and another triple. Otterbein answered right away as Gamble drove for a layup and completed the and-one to provide some breathing room.

From there, Scowden powered through for back-to-back layups, and Heckman buried a key three to stretch the margin to 69-58 with just under seven minutes remaining. Garito later added an and-one finish, and freshman Carter Piatt-Brown knocked down a jumper as the Cardinals rebuilt a comfortable cushion and controlled the final stretch.

Otterbein now shifts its focus to the Wooster Rotary Classic, where the Cardinals will face SUNY Brockport on November 21 at Wooster.