MIller, Cunningham Jr. lead Polar Bears to double OT victory over Baldwin Wallace 85-82

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team won in a hard fought victory in a double OT battle 85-82 against Baldwin Wallace at home on Wednesday evening. 

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (10-8 overall, 4-7 OAC), Baldwin Wallace (7-11 overall, 3-8 OAC).
• Venue: ONU Sports Center — Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Junior Will Miller (Ottoville) scored a team high 26 points.  
• Sophomore Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Westerville/South) scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists. 
• Sophomore Justin Chapman (Sidney) and senior Blake Michael (Fremont/St. Joesph Central Catholic) both added 12 points and also both grabbed 7 boards.
• Ray Ellington led the Yellow Jackets with 26 points.
• BWU would tie the game with just :11 left at 64-64, ONU would get a look to win the game but would not convert sending the game into OT.
• Chapman would grab an offensive board and make a putback with 4.1 seconds left in the first overtime to put the Polar Bears up 72-70.
• The Yellow Jackets would respond with a coast-to-coast layup by Titus Baskerville IV just ahead of the buzzer to send the game to double OT.
• To start the second OT period, Miller would hit a tough shot in the corner giving Northern the edge 74-72 with 4:31 remaing in the game.
• ONU would build its lead to 78-73 behind four straight made free throws from Micahel and Miller.
• The Yellow Jackets would tie the game at 78-78 with 1:38 remaining, but Cuningham Jr. would give the Polar Bears an 80-78 lead with just :40 seconds left on a made layup.
• Ohio Northern would sink 5-of-6 free throws to take an 85-82 lead with 3.2 seconds to go. 
• BW would get an off-balance 3-pointer from 25 feet off before the hrn, but it would miss and ONU would hang on for the thrilling victory.
• ONU led 55-45 with 11:19 left in the regulation after the Polar Bears led 34-32 at halftime. 
• Ohio Northern was 28-of-70 from the floor for 40.0 percent and made 6-of-24 three-pointers for 25.0 percent, while Baldwin Wallace finished 34-of-60 from the field for 56.7 percent and 5-of-13 from three-point range for 38.5 percent.
• ONU made 23-of-26 free throws for 88.5 percent and BWU was 9-of-14 from the foul line for 64.3 percent.
• The Polar Bears out rebounded the Yellow Jackets 38-32.

Notables

• The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 69-49.
• Cunningham Jr. is ranked first in the conference in steals with 43 and assists with 104. 
• Ohio Northern is ranked 1st in the conference in assists per game (16.7) turnovers forced (15.3 tpg), and points per game allowed (68.1 ppg) .
• Sophomore Theo Maag (Ottawa/Ottawa-Gandorf) is ranked first on the OAC in field goal percentage, boasting a 62.0 percentage and Cunningham Jr. is ranked fifth with a 55.8 percentage. 
• Ohio Northern continues its 114th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1381-1083, a winning percentage of .560.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his third season at Ohio Northern with a 33-35 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will be at home again face off against OAC opponent Capital on Saturday at 3 p.m.