Here's an update on recent ONU athletic contests.
Sophomore C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) recorded his fifth double-double of the season as the Ohio Northern Men's Basketball team fell 90-77 against No.9 Marietta Friday night at the ONU Sports Center.
ONU drops to 3-5 overall and 3-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while MC improves to 8-1, 8-1.
The Polar Bears were led by Napier with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore Landen Long (Mason) added 13 points and freshman Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) scored 11 points off the bench.
All five of the Pioneers starters had double-figure scoring totals, led by Mason Lydic and Jason Ellis with 17 points each.
With Marietta leading 55-42 with 17:37 remaining, Napier scored six consecutive points to close the gap to 55-48 with 16:19 remaining and force a Marietta timeout.
The Pioneers responded with a three-pointer by Sahmi Willoughby at 16:05 to spark a 10-2 run with a 65-50 lead at 14:19.
Junior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the MC lead to 81-71 with 6:12 remaining.
Marietta responded with a 4-0 run and the lead did not drop below 12 points again.
ONU made 28-of-66 field goal attempts for 42.4 percent and were 10-of-20 from 3-point range for 36.4 percent. MC was 35-of-69 from the floor for 50.7 percent and shot 10-of-20 three-pointers for 50.0 percent.
The Pioneers outrebounded the Polar Bears 44-36.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Senior Emily Brock (Akron/Revere) scored 14 points as the Ohio Northern Women's basketball team defeated Heidelberg 73-34 in the first round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Friday night at the ONU Sports Center.
With the win, seventh-seeded ONU (6-7 overall) advances to the OAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday night to face second-seeded Otterbein at 7 pm at the Rike Center in Westerville.
HU finishes its season 1-12.
Junior Alissa Stahler (Lima/Shawnee) and sophomore Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) added eight points each off the bench for Ohio Northern.
Karlee Mills led Heidelberg in scoring with 10 points.
The Polar Bears led 11-8 with 1:33 remaining in the first quarter and used a 13-0 run to pull away at 24-8 with 5:45 remaining in the half.
Northern led 36-14 at halftime and cruised to the win.
ONU made 29-of-61 field goals for 47.5 percent and was 11-of-24 from 3-point range for 45.8 percent, while HU made 14-of-57 field goals for 24.6 percent and made 2-of-14 from beyond the arc for 14.3 percent.
The Student Princes outrebounded the Polar Bears 41-35.
MEN'S LACROSSE
The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team built an 8-4 lead and held on for a thrilling 8-7 victory over Otterbein in the season-opener for both teams on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
Senior Joe O'Connell (Fishers, Ind.) and junior C.J. Moran (Austin, Tex./Bowie) scored two goals each for the Polar Bears (1-0 overall).
The Cardinals (0-1) got three goals and two assists from Xander Seal.
O'Connell got his second goal of the game off an assist from senior Cameron Marous (BrecksvilleBrecksville-Broadview Heights) with 6:27 left in the third quarter to put Ohio Northern up 8-4.
Otterbein scored the next three goals and got within 8-7 when Seal finished his hat trick at the 10:04 mark of the game.
The Polar Bear defense stiffened, allowing only two shots on goal the rest of the way while forcing turnovers on five of OU's final six possessions.
Ohio Northern out-shot Otterbein 46-24, won 10-of-18 faceoffs and had a slim 27-26 ground ball advantage.
Sophomore Cole Zaferakis (Liverpool, N.Y.) had eight saves in goal to record the win in goal for ONU.
The teams traded goals for most of the first half until junior Nick Edkins (Liberty Township/Lakota East) and senior Pat Berthelsen-Leon (Bethpage, N.Y.) scored in the final 3:07 to put ONU up 6-4 at intermission.
O'Connell notched his two goals in the third period to cap the 4-0 run and make it an 8-4 game.
The contest does not count in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings as the April 3 contest at Otterbein will be the league game in the round-robin OAC schedule this season.
