The Ohio Northern men's basketball team used a strong start to the second half en route to topping Baldwin Wallace 81-74 on Wednesday evening inside the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears have now won back-to-back Ohio Athletic Conference games, improving to 6-8 overall and 2-5 in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets fall to 8-6 overall and 4-3 in the conference.
"Our guys played with a lot of energy and intensity on the both ends of the floor," 4th-year head coach Rich Bensman said. "We've played hard and been really focused the past couple games."
Freshman Landen Long (Mason) poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Northern opened the final 20 minutes of action with a 21-11 run to take a 58-53 lead with 13:31 remaining before taking a more commanding 71-61 lead with 7:30 left.
Baldwin Wallace cut the ONU lead to 77-74 with 22 seconds to play, but Long nailed four free throws in as many attempts down the stretch to ice the game.
Both sophomore Thomas Phillips (Kenton) and freshman C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) were 7-of-13 from the floor. Phillips netted 16 points and Napier scored 15 points.
Sophomore Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) added 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals while senior Caleb Bryan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) chipped on eight points on a 4-for-4 shooting effort.
The Polar Bears opened the game on a 5-0 spurt prior to trailing 9-7. ONU trailed the rest of the first half, as BW took a 42-37 lead into the break. Northern regained the lead for good at 52-51 on a Napier jumper with 15:25 remaining.
Ohio Northern was 32-for-61 (season-best 52.5%) from the field and 7-for-15 (season-best 46.7%) from 3-point range. Baldwin Wallace was 31-for-69 (44.9%) from the floor and 7-for-28 (25.0%) from deep.
ONU will return to the court with a home matchup against No. 8-ranked Marietta. The game is part of a men's and women's doubleheader and fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis research. The women tip at 3 p.m. and men tip at 5 p.m.
