ONU women's basketball team won and the men's team lost in recent acxtion. Here's the report on both games.
Women's game
Through five games, Ohio Northern women's basketball head coach Michele Durand has learned a couple things about her team. The unbeaten Polar Bears are tough and have a team-first mentality.
Those characteristics were on display Saturday inside the ONU Sports Center. Northern used a late fourth-quarter flurry to edge Mount Union 58-57 in its Ohio Athletic Conference opener.
"We talk about being tougher than everybody else," Durand said. "I think we were gritty and connected. They played really well together, really connected and really good defense against Mount Union, which has a really good team."
Mount Union's Elena Rauhe connected on two free throws with 5:02 to play in the game, which gave her team its largest lead of 57-48. That Purple Raiders wouldn't score again.
ONU senior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) made six from the charity stripe, and fellow senior Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) connected on a couple before sophomore Lexi Jacobs' (Wapakoneta) heroics. Jacobs pulled up from the elbow with 16 seconds to play, which vaulted the Polar Bears out in front.
"We just talked about getting stops," Durand said. "Mount Union helped us a little bit with a couple quick shots, which is good for us. We put Brynn Sebrin in defensively so we had both our point guards in, and that helped against their pressure."
A late flurry included turnovers from both sides. ONU senior Jaclyn Yankle (Youngstown/Cardinal Mooney) and freshman Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) were both awarded steals prior to the clock hitting zero.
Weeks finished with a game-high 16 points to go alongside 10 rebounds. Mescher added 12 points and six boards, while Yankle chipped in nine points and five steals.
The Polar Bears hit 37 percent (20 of 54) of their field-goal attempts and 29.2 percent (7 of 24) of their shots from 3-point land. The Purple Raiders connected on 35.1 percent (20 of 57) of their shots from the floor and 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from 3. Northern out-rebounded Mount Union 40-37.
The Purple Raiders held an 18-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Polar Bears pulled within one, 28-27, at the break. Mount Union built a 46-43 lead at the end of the third quarter.
ONU is back in action Wednesday at Wilmington.
ONU men
Freshman C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored 21 points and added five rebounds to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team as it fell 81-60 in its Ohio Athletic Conference opener at Mount Union at McPherson Athletic Complex.
Freshman Landen Long (Mason) scored the first nine ONU (2-3 overall, 0-1 OAC) points of the game, guiding the Polar Bears to an early 9-6 lead. Long had 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds on the day.
A 3-pointer by junior Thomas Phillips (Kenton) gave Northern its final lead of the game, 16-14 with 14:06 left in the first half.
The Purple Raiders (5-2 overall, 2-0 OAC) launched a 20-4 run to take 34-20 lead with 7:15 to go in the first half.
Senior Austin Allemeier (Elida) nailed a 3-pointer off a Napier assist to draw ONU to within 39-33 with three minutes to play before the intermission.
Mount Union controlled much of the second half, focing nine second-half ONU turnovers as it extended its lead to as many as 25 before the final buzzer sounded.
Northern was 24-for-60 (40.0%) from the field and 7-for-16 (43.8%) from 3-point range. Mount Union was 35-for-64 (54.7%) from the floor and 10-for-17 (58.8%) on 3-point attempts.
ONU out-rebounded MTU 34-33, led by nine rebounds from sophomore Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland).
