With the win, Wilmington moves to 16-6 overall, 9-6 in the OAC, while the Polar Bears fall to 11-4 in conference play and 16-5 overall.
ONU had three other players score in double figures. Senior Nate Lieb scored 14 points. Junior Ryan Lee added 12 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore Kyle Gehle chipped in 11 points.
The two teams battled back and forth for most of the game, with the Polar Bears holding the lead for the majority of the action. However, Wilmington was able to stay close and then pull away late.
With Ohio Northern up 73-72 with 54 seconds left, the Quakers’ Brent Carpenter hit a clutch three-pointer to give the home squad the lead for good at 75-73.
Gehle had a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds left, but his runner in the lane bounced out.
“The three-pointer by Carpenter was the big shot that broke our backs,” said Ohio Northern head coach Jeff Coleman. “We had a shot to tie it, but it just didn’t go.
“Any time you lose, it’s disapointing. We just couldn’t get a stop in the second half, despite being solid on the inside. I thought Hostetler played a good game as well.”
Hostetler shot 8-for-11 from the floor and made all of his four free throws in the last 2:17 of the game.
The Polar Bears were up by eight points in the second half with 10 minutes to go, but Wilmington answered with a 10-2 run led by Zach Broermann’s five points.
Ohio Northern was able to re-gain the lead with 3:08 left off a Hostetler jumper, but Wilmington held ONU without a field goal for the rest of the game.
The Bears held a 39-35 advantage at halftime.
Wilmington was led by Eric Stirling’s 20 points and Broermann, who chipped in 14 points.
Northern grabbed 33 rebounds, while Wilmington pulled down 26 boards.
Wilmington hit 28-of-51 shots from the field for 54.9 percent, and ONU connected on 27-of-56 shots for 48.2 percent.
The Polar Bears return to the court Saturday afternoon as they host Marietta in a 3 p.m. tipoff.