Men's Basketball advances in OAC Tournament with thrilling overtime victory over Muskingum
By Tim Glon
ADA — Junior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored eight of his game-high 27 points in overtime as the the Ohio Northern men's basketball team defeated Muskingum 82-73 in the first round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Monday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The eighth-seeded Polar Bears improve to 10-14 overall and advance to the quarterfinals to play at top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Marietta on Tuesday.
The ninth-seeded Muskies end their season with a 6-20 record.
Napier picked up his eighth double-double of the season and the 14th of his career with 11 rebounds to go with his 27 points.
Senior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) had his fourth double-double of the season and the fifth of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Landen Long (Mason) added 11 points for ONU.
Muskingum was led by Alex Masinelli with 23 points.
Masinelli hit a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70-all and send it into overtime.
Junior Michael Berner (Springboro) converted a 3-point play for ONU just eight seconds into the overtime and Napier followed with a layup at the 4:10 mark to give ONU a 75-70 lead.
A Napier jumper gave ONU a 77-72 lead with 3:17 left and a pair of free throws at the 2:06 mark made it 79-73.
Another Napier basket gave Ohio Northern an 81-73 advantage and the hosts held on from there.
Ohio Northern made 28-of-66 field goals for 42.4% and was 7-of-21 from 3-point range for 33.3%, while the Muskies made 27-of-66 field goals for 40.9% and were 10-of-32 from beyond the arc for 31.3%.
ONU out-rebounded MC by a 49-36 margin.
