Six named Academic All-OAC in Men's Basketball

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Six athletes from the Ohio Northern men's basketball team have been named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference for the 2016-17 season.

Senior Joey Hurless (Van Wert), juniors Grant Pepper (Oakwood), Alex Sibila (Zionsville, Ind.), Joey DiOrio (Columbus/Watterson), Max Harnett (Kettering/Alter) and sophomore Sean Grady (Willowick/Eastlake North) each earned the honor for Northern.

Hurless, a Pharmaceutical Business major, earned the honor for the third time as a Polar Bear.

The senior left his mark on the ONU program as he holds the all-time record for career assists (494) at ONU.

He also holds the single season record for assists (195).

Pepper, a Journalism major, earned the honor for the second consecutive season.

The junior appeared in three games, while dealing with an injury in 2017.

Sibila, an Electrical Engineering major, was also named Academic All-OAC for the second consecutive season.

The junior appeared in 18 games, making starts in two this season.

Sibila averaged 2.2 points per contest and pulled down 1.6 rebounds per game.

DiOrio, a Mechanical Engineering major, earned the honor for the second consecutive year.

DiOrio appeared in all 26 games for Northern, and made starts in 14 games.

The junior averaged 8.8 points per game, and led the team in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 53.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Harnett, a Mechanical Engineering major, earns the honor for the second time in his career, while Grady, an Accounting major, earned the Academic All-OAC honor for the first time in his career.

Harnett appeared in three games this season, while Grady made appearances in four games.

The Polar Bears posted a 16-10 record this season and finished tied for second in the OAC regular season standings under first year head coach Rich Bensman.