ONU junior Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) had career-highs of 41 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to an 108-87 victory over Muskingum on Saturday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (11-4 overall, 6-2 Ohio Athletic Conference) also got 29 points and eight assists from senior Nate Burger (Dayton/Alter) in the victory.
Both men were efficient, as Bruns was an impressive 18-of-22 from the floor and Burger needed just 16 shots to get his 29 points.
"Offensively, we were really, really good tonight," ONU head coach Rich Bensman said. "Ryan Bruns was a man tonight. He was terrific on both ends of the floor. Muskingum had no answer for him. Even though we gave up 87, I thought we were pretty good on the defensive end, too."
The Muskies are 6-9, 4-4.
Northern shot a blistering 42-of-69 (60.9 percent) from the field and were 18-of-23 from the foul line for 78.3 percent., while Muskingum was 23-of-57 (40.4 percent) from the field and 11-of-36 (30.6 percent) from the 3-point line.
ONU won the battle on the glass by an impressive 51-23 margin.
Senior Joey DiOrio (Columbus/Watterson) scored six points and tied his career high with 10 rebounds for the Polar Bears.
Northern led throughout the contest, as Bruns set the tone for the game with a layup just 13 seconds into the contest.
The Polar Bears return home on Wednesday evening in a 7 pm contest with Heidelberg at the ONU Sports Center.
