The Otterbein men's basketball team is heading into the second round of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with mixed emotions. The Cardinals are coming off a pivotal league win against the John Carroll (JCU) Blue Streaks and a devasting one-point loss to Marietta yesterday.
Otterbein had a record- breaking game against JCU, setting the single game three-point field goal record with 18, defeating the Blue Streaks 98-73.
For the game, Otterbein shot 64 percent from the field and converted 60 percent from behind the arch.
Senior guard Adam Wells said, "We didn't do anything different than we normally do. The ball just kept going in."
Wells scored 27 points, including 11 of the team's first 16. He was able to connect on six out of his 10 three-point field goal attempts. The senior's performance against John Carroll earned him OAC Player of the Week.
Senior guard Ross Banaszak chipped in 22 points, converting seven of his 11 attempts from the floor. Sophomore forward Cory Ratai scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds. With the win over John Carroll, the team hopes to carry that momentum into their second half of OAC play.
"I think the win gave us a little boost in morale," said Banaszak. "We proved to ourselves that if we put it all together like that, we can be competitive and beat teams the way we expected to at the start of the season."
The Cardinals were favored to win in the game against Marietta, so the close overtime loss came as a big suprise. The Pioneers OAC record stands at 2-9, making them the lowest-ranked team in the OAC.
This Saturday, Otterbein will head to Muskingum to take on the Fighting Muskies.
Muskingum is entering the game with an 11-5 overall record and an OAC record of 6-4. The Fighting Muskies have won five of their last seven games.
Offensively, the Fighting Muskies are led by 5'7" guard Brandon Todd. Todd is averaging nearly 14 points per game.
Otterbein is entering the contest with an overall record of 4-14 and 3-8 in the OAC. The Cardinals are led offensively by Banaszak, averaging nearly 20 points per game.
The teams last met on Dec. 8 at the Rike Center, where Muskingum earned the victory 74-55. This time around, the Cardinals hope to be healthy, which has been an issue this season.
"We have played hard all year, but have not had too many games in a row that everyone has been healthy," said head coach Dick Reynolds.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Todd led Muskingum, scoring 16 points. Muskingum was able to jump out to a 17-point halftime lead.
The Fighting Muskies were able to out-shoot Otterbein 56 percent to 39 percent, and four of the five starters were able to reach double figures for the game.
Entering the second half of league play in the OAC, the Cardinals hope to improve on their atypical season.
"[We will] play each game at a time and hope to improve our conference standing," said Reynolds.
The Cardinals look to use momentum from the second half of league play to enter the OAC tournament.
"Our goals are to play well, finish the season strong and hopefully make a run in the conference tournament," said Banaszak.
