Muskingum weathers late run to edge Ohio Northern 78-72

Feb. 20, 2008

By Zach Stipe

ADA — Leading by 12 with four minutes to go in the game, Muskingum withstood a late Polar Bear charge en route to defeating the Ohio Northern men’s basketball team 78-72 on Wednesday night at the ONU Sports Center in Ada.

The Muskies improve to 15-9 overall and 9-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Polar Bears drop to 13-11 overall and 9-8 in the OAC.

Junior Kurtis Brown led four ONU players in double figures with 13 points. Junior Jake Cannan, sophomore Ezra Bradshaw and freshman Sam Bastian each scored 11.

Cannan finished with a game-high eight rebounds, while Bradshaw tied a career-high with six assists.

Muskingum was led by Brandon Todd, who scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers. He also dished out seven assists. Tyler Felt and Jeremy Ady added 17 and 15 points, respectively.

ONU made just 13-of-24 free throws, while Muskingum made 19-of-25 from the line.

Muskingum led 49-43 with 10:59 remaining in the game when Northern went on a 9-2 run.

Bastain hit a 3-pointer, Brown made back-to-back free throws and Bradshaw and junior Loudon Hammersmith each split free throws to give the Polar Bears a 52-51 lead with 8:31 left.

The Muskies, however, answered by scoring nine straight points.

Todd drilled a pair of 3-pointers and Ady went 3-of-4 from the line to put Muskingum ahead 60-52 with 5:33 left in the game.

A pair of free throws by Felt gave Muskingum its biggest lead of the game, 67-55, with 4:04 remaining in the game.

Northern never gave up, though, and went on an 11-1 run to cut the Muskies’ lead to 68-66 after Brown buried a 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining.

Felt answered with a three-point play just 17 seconds later to put Muskingum up 71-66.

The Muskies closed the game by shooting 5-of-6 from the line in the last 35 seconds to clinch the victory.

Muskingum jumped out to a 24-16 lead 15 minutes into the game behind 13 first-half points by Todd.

Northern closed the half on a 14-4 run, though, as a layup by freshman Sean Whitney gave ONU a 30-28 lead 26 seconds before halftime.

However, Muskingum took a 31-30 lead into halftime as Cory Bourquin hit a 3-pointer right before the buzzer sounded.

Muskingum shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the 3-point line, while Northern made 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from behind the arc. Overall, the Muskies shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field, while ONU made 43.8 percent (28-of-64) of its field goals.

Northern held a 44-35 edge on rebounds.

“I thought our guys battled back into it,” ONU head coach Jeff Coleman said. “Muskingum made their free throws going down the stretch, though.”
ONU wraps up the regular season on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Mount Union at the ONU Sports Center.

With a win on Saturday and a Muskingum loss, the Polar Bears would clinch the No. 4 seed in the OAC Tournament and ensure a home game at the ONU Sports Center on Wednesday.