Two women's and two men's stories here -
By Tim Glon
The Ohio Northern women's basketball team went ice-cold in the third quarter and had a 4:20 scoring drought in the fourth quarter, yet still had a chance to win late in a 61-59 season-opening loss to Wilmington at the ONU Sports Center.
"I'm so proud of the way we kept fighting all night," first-year ONU head coach Mark Huelsman said after his first game at the helm of the Polar Bears. "We have not played a basketball game in more than 300 days. We looked good at times and rusty at other times, but we kept battling and playing hard and had a chance at the end."
Junior Kate Iliff (Lorain/Steele) led a balanced attack for ONU (0-1 overall, 0-1 Ohio Athletic Conference) attack with 10 points. Junior Molly Palecek (Wadsworth) and freshman Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) had nine points each and junior Lexi Jacobs (Wapakoneta) added eight points for ONU.
The Quakers (1-0, 1-0) had three players score in double figures led by McKayla Binkley with 17 points.
Jacobs nailed a 3-pointer with 44.1 seconds left in the game to end the long scoring drought and get Ohio Northern within 61-59.
ONU got a stop and had the ball with 30 seconds left with a chance to win.
Jacobs had a clean look at a 3-pointer with four second left bounce off the rim and WC held on for the win.
Northern led 32-26 at halftime, but made just 3-of-19 field goals in the third quarter as Wilmington outscored the hosts 16-7 to lead 44-41 heading into the fourth period.
ONU finished the game 21-of-59 from the floor for 35.6 percent and was 9-of-28 from 3-point range for 32.1 percent, while WC was 24-of-61 from the floor (39.3 percent) and 6-of-19 from beyond the arc (31.6 percent.)
Ohio Northern out-rebounded Wilmington 42-36, led by seven boards from Ward and junior Jaidyn Hale(Lima/Bath).
The Polar Bears and Quakers will battle again on Saturday night at 6 pm at Wilmington in the second game of the back-to-back home-and-home schedule the OAC has adopted for the 2021 season.
Second women's game
Junior Jaidyn Hale (Lima/Bath) hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the game to help the Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a 53-52 victory over Wilmington on Saturday night at Raizk Arena.
With the win, the Polar Bears improve to 1-1 overall and 1-1 Ohio Athletic Conference, handing the Quakers (1-1, 1-1) their first loss of the season.
The victory was the first in the head coaching career of first-year head coach Mark Huelsman.
Hale led ONU in scoring, tying a career-high with 17 points. Senior Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) was the only other Polar Bear in double figures as she contributed 10 points.
McKayla Binkley was one of three Quakers in double figures in scoring with a team-high 14 points.
Hale scored the last five Polar Bear points, including a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining in the game to break the tie and give the Polar Bears a 53-50 lead.
Binkley made a pair of free throws with 1:06 to go to bring the Quakers within 53-52.
WC got the ball back after an ONU miss with 42 seconds to go, but the Northern defense held and got the ball back with 34 ticks left.
The Polar Bears turned the ball over with 12 seconds remaining and Wilmington got a 3-pointer off with two seconds left, but it missed and ONU held on for the win.
Ohio Northern was 23-of-59 from the floor for 39.0 percent and made 5-of-21 three-pointers for 29.4 percent. Wilmington was 18-55 from the floor for 32.7 percent and was 8-of-21 from beyond the arc for 38.4 percent.
ONU out-rebounded WC 44-30, led by junior Alissa Stahler (Lima/Shawnee) with eight boards off the bench.
The Polar Bears will return to action with a pair of games against Otterbein next weekend. ONU will travel to OU on Friday for a 7 pm contest and will host the Cardinals on Saturday at 6 pm at the ONU Sports Center.
Men's opening game
Sophomore C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) had his second career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to a 95-86 season-opening victory at Wilmington on Friday night at Raizk Arena.
The Polar Bears (1-0 overall, 1-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) had four other players score in double figures.
Junior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and tied a career-high with six assists, sophomore Michael Berner (Springboro) had a career-high 17 points, sophomore Landen Longhad 17 points and sophomore Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) had a career-high 10 points for ONU.
Jeffery Mansfield had 21 points and eight assists to lead the Quakers (0-1, 0-1).
Waugh made a pair of free throws and Berner got a layup as ONU broke a 43-all tie and took the lead for good at 47-43 with 3:03 left in the first half.
Northern opened the second half on an 11-4 run to go up 65-53 with 16:16 remaining to play.
The Quakers got within 88-84 with 1:56 left in the game, but two free throws by Long at the 1:14 mark extended the lead to 90-84.
Scott had a dunk with 34 seconds to go to make it 92-84 and ONU would make three of four free throws to ice the game and win its third consecutive season opener.
Ohio Northern made 32-of-58 field goals for 55.2 percent, was 27-of-41 from the foul line for 65.9 percent and made 4-of-12 3-pointers for 33.3 percent.
Wilmington made 30-of-67 field foals for 44.8 percent, was 8-of-28 from beyond the arc for 28.6 percent and made 18-of-27 free throws for 66.7 percent.
Each team had 34 rebounds, but ONU enjoyed a 52-38 advantage in the paint.
The Polar Bears and Quakers will battle again on Saturday night at 6 pm at the ONU Sports Center in the second game of the back-to-back home-and-home schedule the OAC has adopted for the 2021 season.
Men's second game
Sophomore C.J. Napier (Miamsburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored with 39 seconds left to lift the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to a 62-61 victory over Wilmington on Saturday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (2-0 overall, 2-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) completed the back-to-back sweep of Wilmington (0-2, 0-2) after winning 95-86 on Friday night.
Napier scored a team-high 16 points as ONU rallied from a 10-point second half deficit.
WC led 52-42 with 8:34 left, but ONU chipped away and took its first lead since the 7:51 mark of the first half when Napier scored his basket with 39 seconds left.
Ohio Northern's defense forced a 30-second shot clock violation on Wilmington's ensuing possession and the Quakers sent Napier to the foul line with 7.7 seconds to go.
Napier missed the front end of the one-and-one, but ONU had five fouls to give and began to foul as WC advanced the ball up the court.
Northern appeared to foul Jeffery Mansfield outside the 3-point arc with two seconds left, but no foul was called. Mansfield drove all the way to the rim but his layup at the buzzer came up just short and ONU survived for the win.
"We played with tired legs tonight," ONU head coach Rich Bensman said. "We need to get deeper into our bench with these back-to-back games. I'm very proud of the way we kept battling though. Trailing by 10 with eight minutes to go is a time when we could have folded, but our guys kept playing hard. We made some plays at the end of the game and got a win over a very talented team."
Junior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) also scored in double figures for the Polar Bears with 12 points.
His 3-pointer with 2:09 to play got ONU within 59-58 and Napier followed with a nice basket inside at the 1:18 mark to make it 61-60.
Mansfield led the Quakers with 22 points.
ONU made 24-of-59 field goals for 40.7 percent and was 5-15 from 3-point range for 33.3 percent. WC was 26-of-59 from the floor for 44.1 percent and made 9-of-24 three-pointers for 37.5 percent.
Wilmington won the rebounding battle by a 37-35 margin.
The polar Bears will return to action next weekend with a pair of games against Otterbein. ONU will host OU on Friday at 7 pm and will play at OU on Saturday at 6 pm.
