Four score in double figures as Men’s Basketball defeats Ohio Wesleyan
By Wes Mayberry
WESTERVILLE — After taking a big early lead, the Ohio Northern men's basketball team held off a tough battle from Ohio Wesleyan for an 87-83 win Wednesday evening in the Smokey Ballenger Classic at the Rike Center at Otterbein University.
The Polar Bears improve to 7-3 overall while dropping the Battling Bishops to 5-5 overall.
Four Polar Bears scored in double figures led by senior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland), who made three 3-pointers and finished with 23 points. He added seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists to his stat line.
Junior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) added 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and junior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) chipped in 13 points.
Freshman Ethan Bell (Marion/River Valley) made a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 11 points.
Sophomore Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) scored nine points, and junior Grant Heileman (Millersport/Sheridan) added six points and nine rebounds for ONU.
Junior Jack Clement scored a game-high 26 points for OWU while adding four rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Freshman Henry Hinkle finished with 19 points and a game-high nine assists for the Bishops, while senior Nick Carlson added 14 points and nine rebounds to go with 10 points and four rebounds from sophomore Tony Carter.
Ohio Northern opened Wednesday's game on a 17-2 run that was highlighted by a trio of 3-pointers from Bell, but OWU battled back.
The Bishops responded with a 30-9 run that was kickstarted by back-to-back triples from Hinkle to take a 32-26 lead with 5:22 left in the first half.
A jumper from Waugh tied the game at 36-all with 2:05 left in the half, which ONU closed with six straight points to take a 45-40 edge into the halftime break.
Napier and Bell both scored in double figures in the opening half with 13 and 11 points, respectively, to lead the way for ONU.
Clement and Hinkle scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for OWU.
The game continued to be tightly contested throughout the second half.
The score was tied at 67-all with 7:44 remaining before five points from Waugh provided some separation for ONU.
The Polar Bears led by seven, 84-77, on a 3-pointer from Conley with 2:36 left, but a Carlson triple got OWU back within three, 84-81, with 1:29 remaining.
With OWU trailing 85-83 with under 30 seconds left, Carlson missed a 3-point shot, and Waugh split a pair of free throws after grabbing the rebound and being fouled.
Hinkle was unable to tie the score on the ensuing possession, as his 3-point shot went out of bounds with nine seconds left.
A free throw from Waugh with five seconds on the clock sealed the victory for ONU.
Ohio Northern made 34-of-67 field goals for 50.7% and was 9-of-21 from 3-point range for 42.9%, while the Bishops made 31-of-64 field goals for 48.4% and were 11-of-29 from beyond the arc for 37.9%.
The Polar Bears were 10-of-19 from the foul line for 52.6% while OWU was 10-of-13 for 76.9%.
ONU out-rebounded OWU by a 39-28 margin.
The Polar Bears return to the court on Thursday at 5 p.m. to face Olivet (Mich.) for the second of their two games in the Smokey Ballenger Classic at Otterbein.