Written by Justin Hamilton 01/21/04
The Otterbein Cardinals picked a great time to stage one of their biggest comebacks of the season as Otterbein posted a 73-67 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory over Ohio Northern in Westerville Wednesday night.
Otterbein, ranked 18th in the latest d3hoops.com poll, moves to 13-3 on the year and 7-2 in the OAC. The Cardinals are tied with John Carroll for first place in the conference after Mount Union knocked the Blue Streaks off Wednesday evening.
The Cardinals set a new school record for free throw percentage in a single-game as Otterbein shot 25-of-26 (96.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
Trailing 53-38 with just 10:58 left to play, things were not looking for the Cardinals. However, an 11-1 run over the next three minutes cut the deficit to 54-49.
Senior Jim Conrad responded with a three-pointer on the ensuing posession to push the lead back to 57-49 with 7:26 left. The trey was even bigger considering it came after Conrad, a 90 percent free throw shooter, missed both charity tosses but the Polar Bears grabbed the rebound and found Conrad in the left corner.
The Cardinals again answered back as they used a 9-0 spurt to take their first lead of the game, 58-57, with 5:21 left. Junior Tony Borghese (Columbus/DeSales) scored five points during the stretch, including a three-pointer from the top of the circle that cut the deficit to 57-54.
Conrad responded with a three to give Ohio Northern a 60-58 advantage, but junior Scott Hadley (Lewis Center/Worthington Christian) answered with a lay-in to tie the game at 60 with 4:42 to play.
The Polar Bears took the lead one final time, 62-60, after a jumper by Chad Bostelman.
With Otterbein clinging to a 66-65 lead, Borghese came calling again with a three-pointer from the top of the circle as the shot clock was winding down to give the Cardinals a 69-65 advantage.
Conrad did cut the deficit to 69-67, but Hadley and Borghese both connected on pairs of free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
Borghese tallied a team-high 21 points and hit all four of his three-point tries. Sophomore Tyler Ousley (Butler/Clear Fork) finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, and five blocked shots. Hadley also finished with 12 points and eights rebounds. Freshman DeQuan Owens (Columbus/Beechcroft) broke double figures with 10 points.
The Cardinals will host Mount Union, 7:30 p.m., Saturday in an OAC matchup. The Purple Raiders handed Otterbein an 84-73 set-back earlier this season in Alliance.
Newspaper Box Score Ohio Northern University vs Otterbein College 1/21/04 7:30 p.m. at Rike Center; Westerville, OH At Rike Center; Westerville, OH OTTERBEIN COLLEGE 73, OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY 67 OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY ((11-5, 5-4)) Jim Conrad 9-19 2-4 22; Sam Mikolajewski 8-16 3-6 19; Mark Killian 6-10 4-6 16; Chad Bostelman 3-5 0-0 6; Nate Lieb 1-5 0-0 3; Billy Barkimer 0-3 1-3 1; Greg Badenhop 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 10-19 67. OTTERBEIN COLLEGE ((13-3, 7-2)) Tony Borghese 6-8 5-5 21; Scott Hadley 4-5 4-4 12; Tyler Ousley 4-7 4-4 12; DeQuan Owens 3-9 4-4 10; Neil Hohman 2-5 2-2 6; Mo Ross 1-4 2-2 4; Phil Susi 0-2 4-4 4; Aaron Minister 1-3 0-1 2; Kyle Walton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-46 25-26 73. Ohio Northern University...... 34 33 - 67 Otterbein College............. 29 44 - 73 3-point goals-Ohio Northern University 3-14 (Jim Conrad 2-6; Nate Lieb 1-4; Chad Bostelman 0-1; Billy Barkimer 0-1; Greg Badenhop 0-2), Otterbein College 4-8 (Tony Borghese 4-4; Scott Hadley 0-1; Neil Hohman 0-1; Mo Ross 0-1; Kyle Walton 0-1). Fouled out--Ohio Northern University-Mark Killian, Otterbein College-None. Rebounds-Ohio Northern University 37 (Mark Killian 13), Otterbein College 30 (Tyler Ousley 9). Assists-Ohio Northern University 14 (Jim Conrad 4), Otterbein College 12 (Scott Hadley 3; Kyle Walton 3). Total fouls-Ohio Northern University 21, Otterbein College 20. A-1376 Otterbein sets a school record for team free throw shooting (25/26, 96.2%)