NEW CONCORD — Graduate student Cam Evans led the way with 19 points as the fifth-seeded Otterbein men's basketball team fell 71-59 at fourth-seeded Muskingum in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday night, bringing the Cardinals' 2024-25 season to a close.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (14-12 overall), Muskingum (14-12 overall)
• Venue: Steele Center - New Concord, Ohio
• Muskingum advances to play at top-seeded John Carroll in Thursday's tournament semifinals.
• OAC Tournament page

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Evans made a trio of 3-pointers and added four rebounds and two assists to his 19 points.
• Junior Troy Scowden tallied 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
• Junior Julian Heckman posted nine points, four rebounds and a team-high four assists.
• Freshman Noah Gamble added six points and three rebounds.
• Seniors Jared Kreager and Alex Hannah finished with five points each. Kreager added five rebounds and three assists to his stat line, while Hannah also tallied five rebounds.

Game Highlights

• First Half: A tightly contested opening half saw Otterbein take a 16-15 edge on a 3-pointer from Hannah with 11:49 remaining. With the score tied at 18, Muskingum put together an 8-0 run highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers and eventually took a 10-point lead, 31-21, with 6:53 left. The Muskingum lead grew to 12 with 5:35 remaining. Trailing by 10 with just under two minutes left, the Cardinals put together a 7-2 run thanks solely to Evans, who made a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer to get Otterbein within five with 20 seconds remaining. The Muskies added a jumper at the buzzer to take a 42-35 lead into halftime. Evans led the Cardinals in scoring at the half with 15 points.
• Second Half: Otterbein again pulled within five with a layup from Scowden to start the second half, but Muskingum responded with a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer for a 49-37 edge with 18 minutes left. The Muskies' lead grew to 18, 59-41, with 13:08 remaining before a 6-0 Otterbein run via a pair of free throws from Kreager and back-to-back layups from Scowden and Heckman had the Cardinals back within 12 with 10:22 left. A layup from senior Anthony Coppock cut the deficit to 11, 62-51, with 7:19 remaining. The Cardinals pulled within 11 on two other occasions over the final 4:30 but were unable to get any closer en route to the 71-59 Muskingum win.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 48.9% from the field and was 6-of-22 (27.3%) from 3-point range. Muskingum shot 44.3% from the field and was 11-of-23 (47.8%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 7-of-10 (70%) from the foul line, while the Muskies were 6-of-13 (46.2%). Otterbein out-rebounded Muskingum by a 39-28 margin.

Notables

• Evans ranks seventh all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,698 points. Jerry Dennis ('88-'92) ranks sixth with 1,833 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 22 games this season and is averaging a team-high 18.1 points per game. He entered Tuesday ranked second in the OAC in scoring average (18.1 points per game) behind Muskingum's Duane Davis (18.6 points per game). Evans also ranked third in free throws made (107) and fifth in free-throw percentage (81.1%).
• Heckman has scored in double figures in 14 games this season and is averaging 10.6 points per game. He entered Tuesday ranked sixth in the OAC in steals (38), eighth in assists (75) and 10th in free-throw percentage (79.7%).
• Sophomore Chase Garito scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and 15 games overall this season. He is averaging 9.8 points per game and entered Tuesday ranked sixth in the OAC in field-goal percentage (54.6%).
• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 72-66 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein holds a 23-12 edge in the series against Muskingum dating back to 2008 and has won seven of the past nine meetings. During the regular season, Muskingum won 75-69 in New Concord on Jan. 11, and Otterbein came away with a 81-76 victory in Westerville on Feb. 15.