Rushton leads Polar Bears to 84-68 victory over Finlandia (Mich.) at Alma Thanksgiving Classic

By Tim Glon

ALMA, Mich. -- Junior Branden Rushton scored 24 points for the second consecutive game, leading the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to an 84-68 victory over Finlandia (Mich.) Sunday afternoon on the second day of the Alma Thanksgiving Classic.

The Polar Bears improve to 4-1 on the season and went 2-0 in the tournament, while the Lions fall to 0-6.

Rushton was 9 of 13 from the floor and dished out four assists to go with his 24 points.

Rushton and sophomore Isaiah Roux were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Junior Jared Horstman had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Jordan Martin added 13 points for ONU.

Finlandia was led by Keith Arnold with a game-high 30 points and Jon Moore with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Finlandia scored the first five points before ONU went on a 16-2 run to take a 16-7 lead with 11:04 left in the first half.

The Lions would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

ONU led 37-23 at halftime and led by as much as 74-50 on a pair of free throws by senior Taylor Kuhlman with 4:39 left in the game.

Northern was 31 of 67 from the floor for 46.3 percent, while the Lions made 24 of 57 shots for 42.1 percent.

ONU won the rebounding battle by a 38-36 margin.

The Polar Bears will return to action Wednesday at 7:30 pm when they play host to No. 13-ranked Wooster at the ONU Sports Center.