Men’s Basketball gets 70-65 win over Clarkson (N.Y.) on first day of Naples (Fla.) Classic

By Wes Mayberry

NAPLES, Fla. — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team opened its two-game slate in the Naples (Fla.) Classic with a 70-65 win over Clarkson (N.Y.) on Thursday night at the Community School of Naples.

The Polar Bears improve to 5-5 overall while dropping the Golden Knights to 5-4.

Senior Landen Long (Mason) tied a career-high with six made 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 25 points for ONU.

Senior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) added a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and is now 14 points shy of becoming the 40th member of ONU's 1,000-Point Club.

Clarkson finished with four double-figure scorers led by Ryan Miles-Ferguson and Blake Gearhart with 18 points each.

The Golden Knights led 26-24 at halftime, but the Polar Bears opened the second half on a 12-2 run that included five points from Long, a 3-pointer from sophomore Ethan Bell (Marion/River Valley) and two points each from Napier and senior Michael Berner (Springboro) for a 36-28 edge with 16:24 left in the game.

Clarkson rallied to tie the score at 41-all with 11:25 remaining, but ONU responded with a 6-0 run courtesy of an and-1 from Long, a free throw from Napier and a jumper from Bell.

The Golden Knights later took a 52-49 edge with 5:44 left but were outscored 21-13 to close the game.

A 3-pointer from Long gave ONU a 57-54 edge with 3:05 left, and a triple from Napier extended the lead to 60-56 with 1:43 remaining.

A Gearhart layup got the Golden Knights back within two, 60-58, with 1:25 left, but Long answered with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to five with 57 seconds remaining.

Clarkson cut the deficit to one, 66-65, on a layup from Miles-Ferguson with six seconds left before junior Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) and senior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) each made a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Ohio Northern made 20-of-61 field goals for 32.8% and was 10-of-29 from 3-point range for 34.5%, while CU made 23-of-55 field goals for 41.8% and was 9-of-18 from beyond the arc for 50%.

ONU was 20-of-31 from the free-throw line for 64.5%, and Clarkson was 10-of-20 for 50%.

ONU out-rebounded CU by a 46-40 margin.

The Polar Bears return to action on Friday at 5 p.m. to face Suffolk (Mass.) in their final game in the Naples Classic.