Northern drops season opener to
No. 1 Washington (Mo.)

Nov. 16, 2007

By Steven Wright

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kurtis Brown had 10 points and Jake Cannan had 10 rebounds to lead Ohio Northern but it was not enough as No. 1 Washington (Mo.) defeated the Polar Bears 74-58 Friday evening during Game 1 of the Calvin Tip-Off Tournament at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

Northern begins the season 0-1 while Washington starts off 1-0 on the year.

ONU had won its previous four season opening games with its last loss coming to the hands of Wooster 63-62 to begin the 2002-03 campaign.

Brown added a team-high two steals and three rebounds while Cannan chipped in eight points, one block and one steal in 31 minutes of action.

Mitch Anderson also scored eight points off the bench, and Kyle Gehle and Loudan Hammersmith each recorded five rebounds.

As a team, the Polar Bears outshot Washington at the free throw line, going 19-22 (86.4%) compared to just 12-24 (50%) for WU.

ONU also outrebounded WU by a total of 37 to 30.

The difference in the game came from Washington shooting 52.8% from the field while Ohio Northern only connected on 33.3% of its shots, including 3-18 (16.7%) from beyond the arc.

Washington got out to an ideal start with an 8-0 lead before Cannan made the first Polar Bear basket at the 16:29 mark.

The Polar Bears chipped away at the early deficit and eventually tied the game at 14-14 after a three-point basket from Ezra Bradshaw and then gained the lead 16-14 off of a layup from Sam Bastian with 10:33 remaining in the first half.

With the score 20-17 in favor of ONU, Sean Wallis hit a three pointer for Washington with 7:39 left in the half and the Bears never trailed again.

WU took a 34-29 lead into the half and did not allow ONU to come any closer than four points the rest of the game and ended the contest on a 13-3 run.

Preseason First Team All-America selection Troy Ruths led all scorers with 26 while Wallis and Tyler Nading each pitched in 17 for Washington

Ohio Northern will face the loser of Game 2 in the consolation game of the Calvin Tip-Off Tournament between No. 17 Calvin (Mich.) and Grace Bible (Wis.) Saturday at 1 pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse.