The Otterbein men’s basketball team stunned Ohio Northern University with a last second layup to break the tie, the win propels the team to the Ohio Athletic Conference championship for the first time since 2002.
Ohio Northern University held the lead for most of the game, with Otterbein trailing by 10 at half. The team found a way to grind through the deficit over the course of the second half, winning the game in heroic fashion. With 1.5 seconds left, senior guard Reese Huber made a desperate layup over his back shoulder to break the 51-51 tie. Huber also boasted an impressive eight rebounds on the night.
Many notable contributions came from Julian Heckman, our senior guard and freshman forward Dominic Theado. Heckman led the team in scoring with 12 points and put on an impressive defensive performance with a pair of blocks as well as two steals. Heckman was recently awarded with first team all-Ohio Athletic Conference honors.
Theado helped the team by scoring 10 points impressively shooting a solid 4-5 from the field. He joins Heckman with being awarded an Ohio Athletic Conference accolade, becoming the Ohio Athletic Conference freshman of the year.
This game also marks a significant milestone for head coach Andy Winter's career at Otterbein, being his first Ohio Athletic Conference tournament win in his seven years with the program. He has played a key role in the team’s success this year getting awarded Ohio Athletic Conference co-coach of the year.
Otterbein men’s basketball team will now face Heidelberg at 6 p.m. on Saturday, in the Rike Center. Heidelberg earned their spot in the finals after narrowly upsetting the number one seed Mount Union on the road 84-82.
