ONU women's and men's basketball teams both defeated Heidelberg on Feb. 13. Those game stories follow.
Women's game
The Ohio Northern women's basketball team sent the program's Class of 2019 student-athletes out in style Wednesday evening, toppling Ohio Athletic Conference foe Heidelberg 53-45 inside the ONU Sports Center on Senior Night.
The Polar Bears improve to 12-12 overall and 6-11 against the conference circuit with the victory. More importantly, Northern moves into a two-way tie for seventh place with Wilmington in the OAC standings and can secure their spot in the conference tournament Saturday with a win at Muskingum.
With the win, head coach Michele Durand earns her 310th coaching victory at Ohio Northern. She now stands tied for the most career victories for an Ohio Northern men's or women's basketball coach all-time, tying former men's basketball coach Gale Daugherty for the top spot.
Heidelberg drops to 9-15 overall and falls to ninth in the league standings with a 5-12 mark.
Prior to the game, Ohio Northern honored seniors Alyssa Manley (Lima/Bath), Jenna Dirksen(Beavercreek/Carroll), and Tori Wyss (Ada) for their hard work and dedication to the women's basketball program.
On the court, the three seniors would shine in their final home contest.
Dirksen topped the scoring efforts with 12 points on four-for-nine shooting, including a two-for-five clip from beyond the arc. The senior added three rebounds and two assists in the winning effort.
Meanwhile, Manley would go four-for-eight from the floor to contribute a season-high 11 points. She finished three-for-four from three-point territory while suppling two assists and two rebounds.
Wyss led the Polar Bears with a team-high 12 rebounds and three steals. The Ada product also chipped in three points and two assists on the night.
Sophomore Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) rounded out the double-figure scorers Wednesday evening, adding 10 on four-for-six shooting.
The Student Princes were led by Brooke Beamer and Madelyn Crawford, who produced 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Ohio Northern got off to a quick start in the first period, scoring the first 11 points in the contest. Manley knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to open the night before junior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) rattled in a jumper and Dirksen dialed up her first three-pointer. With the early momentum, ONU was able to build a 17-5 cushion by the end of the first period.
HU registered a much-improved 50% shooting clip in the second frame, but the Polar Bears would force five turnovers to maintain their advantage. Both sides managed 14 points in the quarter, giving Northern a 31-19 lead heading into the locker rooms.
After conceding the first four points in the third period, ONU's offense sparked to life for a short 6-0 run midway through the stanza. The scoring burst was capped with a Martrina Parks (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) jumper at the 4:19 mark, giving Northern its largest lead in the contest.
Trailing 40-30 with one period remaining, the Student Princes tried to rally with their own 6-0 run in the fourth to cut the lead to just four points. Dirksen ended the offensive dry spell with a layup at the 2:22 mark, allowing the Polar Bears to seal the critical conference victory.
Ohio Northern shot 19-for-53 (35.8%) Wednesday night, including 7-for-17 (41.2%) from long range. Meanwhile, Heidelberg was held to a 28.6% shooting clip on 16-for-56 shooting and an 18.8% mark from beyond the arc.
The Polar Bears will wrap up the 2018-19 regular season Saturday afternoon with a road trip to OAC foe Muskingum. With a win, Northern will guarantee their spot in the OAC Tournament next week. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. inside the Anne C. Steele Center in New Concord.
Men's game
Senior All-American Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and junior Caleb Bryan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) had all of his career-high 15 points in the first half to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in an 82-73 victory at Heidelberg on Wednesday night at Sieberling Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears improve to 6-18 overall and are 2-15 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes fall to 8-16, 6-11.
The Polar Bears used runs of 18-0, 26-2 and 31-4 to take a 45-22 lead with 1:02 left in the first half.
Bryan was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor to score all 15 of his points as ONU led 47-24 at intermission.
Senior Daniel Donner (Columbus/Northmor) and sophomore Colton Bachman (Piqua) added 14 points each, freshman Daniel Unruh (Elida) scored 13 points and junior Austin Allemeier (Lima/Elida) chipped in 10 points for ONU.
Heidelberg was led by Myron Prewitt with 24 points.
The Student Princes opened the second half on a 24-11 run to pull within 58-48 with 10:45 to play in the game.
But Ohio Northern would grow its lead to 62-48 and not let HU get within eight points the rest of the way, making 13-of-21 free throws down the stretch.
ONU made 28-of-48 shots from the field for 58.3 percent and were 6-of-14 from three-point range for 42.9 percent, while the Student Princes converted 25-of-66 shot attempts for 37.9 percent and were 7-of-27 from beyond the arc for 25.9 percent.
Ohio Northern out-rebounded Heidelberg 39-28, led by eight rebounds each from Bruns and Donner and seven boards from Bryan.
The Polar Bears will wrap up their season on Saturday when they Muskingum in a 3 pm contest on Senior Day at the ONU Sports Center.
