Men’s Basketball: Ohio Northern (7-5 Overall, 1-4 OAC) at Muskingum (3-11 Overall, 0-7 OAC)

Saturday, January 15, 2022, 2 p.m. - Performance Court, New Concord, Ohio

Saturday's Preview: The Polar Bears face Ohio Athletic Conference foe Muskingum in New Concord on Saturday at 2 p.m. … Last time out, Northern took a 92-65 home loss at Baldwin Wallace on Wednesday while missing four starters and eight players overall due to COVID-19 protocols … Junior Grant Heileman scored a season-high 15 points to lead ONU while junior Landen Long and freshman Garrett Chapin added 12 points each … ONU is averaging 70.7 points per game and allowing 75.0 points per contest while shooting 45.3% from the field, 37.5% on 3-pointers and 61.5% from the foul line … Northern currently has four players averaging double figures in scoring with junior C.J. Napier (14.5 points per game), senior Brandon Waugh (13.1), Long (10.7) and junior Adam Scott (10.5) … Napier is tied for ninth in the OAC in scoring average, and his team-high 8.3 rebounds per game is tied for third in the conference … Waugh leads the team with 24 made 3-pointers, which is tied for 11th in the OAC, on 45.3% shooting from beyond the arc … Waugh leads ONU with 37 assists, which ranks eighth in the OAC, and his 16 steals are tied for 12th in the conference … Waugh ranks 15th on the program's all-time career steals list with 128 … Waugh's 224 career assists are 14 shy of breaking into the top 20 on the ONU leaderboard in that category … The Polar Bears will next play No. 19 Heidelberg at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. … Muskingum is in the midst of a three-game losing streak coming off Wednesday's 65-63 defeat at Wilmington … MU led 51-41 in the second half before Wilmington tied the game at 63-all with 30 seconds left, and the Quakers won the game on a last-second shot from Jeffery Mansfield … Senior Alex Massinelli led MU with 26 points and nine rebounds in the game … The Fighting Muskies are averaging 73.4 points per game while allowing 78.8 points per contest and are shooting 43.7% from the floor, 34.9% on 3-pointers and 73.9% from the foul line … Massinelli ranks second in the OAC in scoring average at 20.1 points per game, and his 7.1 rebounds per game ranks seventh in the conference … Massinelli ranks third in the OAC in assists with 56 and has a team-high 13 steals … Massinelli made five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 43 points in a 94-90 loss to Lynchburg (Va.) on Dec. 29 … The Muskies' other top scorers are seniors MJ Smith (8.2 points per game) and Noah Tomlinson (8.1) … Junior Noah Begue has made a team-high 30 3-pointers, which ranks fourth in the OAC, and is shooting an OAC-best 49.2% from beyond the arc.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Muskingum by a 72-48 margin, including a 26-24 mark on the road … ONU has won 11 straight games in the series … The teams last met in March 2021 in the OAC Tournament semifinals where ONU got an 81-75 home win.

Head Coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his sixth season at ONU with a 63-65 record, a winning percentage of .492.