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Otterbein University Athletics

Otterbein Cardinals

Garito
84
Winner Otterbein OTT 15-2,7-1 OAC
74
Wilmington (OH) WILM 7-10,3-5 OAC
Winner
Otterbein OTT
15-2,7-1 OAC
84
Final
74
Wilmington (OH) WILM
7-10,3-5 OAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Otterbein OTT 45 39 84
Wilmington (OH) WILM 33 41 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

No. 24 Cardinals win at Wilmington

WILMINGTON, Ohio – Cracking the Top 25 for the first time since 2004, the No. 24 Otterbein University men's basketball team held off a Quaker rally to knock off Wilmington, 84-74 . With the win, the Cardinals win their tenth straight contest and wrap up the first half of OAC play with a 15-2, 7-1 record. 

Senior Julian Heckman's season-high 23 points led all players, turning in a tremendous evening on both sides of the ball. Playing 38 minutes he added eight rebounds and eight assists to go along with three steals. 

The teams traded baskets over the first half until the Cardinals finally pulled away late in the period. With the score knotted at 21, Otterbein went on a 16-2 run over a four minute stretch to take a 37-23 lead. Plenty of Cardinals contributed in the run, led by 3-pointers from Dominic Theado and Micah Germany. Wilmington was able to slowly stop the run, but the visitors took a 45-33 lead into the half. 

A second half surge by the Quakers trimmed Otterbein's lead to single digits, as the hosts started the period on a 21-9 run, ultimately tying the game at 54. A few lead changes spanned through the second half until a Chase Garito bucket gave Otterbein the lead for good with 9:34 to play. 

Despite the Quakers cutting a seven point Cardinal lead to one, a clutch and-one from Jarius Jones pushed Otterbein's advantage to four. Jones finished with 13 points off the bench in the win. Otterbein tacked on points with free throws from Dominic Theado and another old-fashioned 3-point play, this time coming from Troy Scowden, for a nine point lead with under six minutes remaining. 

Theado added 11 points for Otterbein as Reece Huber pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds. The Cardinals were 17 of 22 from the free throw line and shot just under 40 percent from three. The game featured eight ties and seven lead changes as well. 

With the conference bye Saturday, Otterbein will be idle until Jan. 28. Baldwin Wallace pays a visit to the Rike Center in a 7 p.m. tipoff.
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