Men's Basketball loses close battle with Ohio Northern

The Muskingum men's basketball team suffered a close loss in an OAC battle with Ohio Northern on Saturday evening, 72-66.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (7-6, 2-4), Ohio Northern (5-8, 1-5)
• Location: ONU Sports Center - Ada, OH

Notables

• Junior Marcus Dempsey scored a game-high 31 points to move up to second all-time in Muskingum scoring with 1,745. He passes Gene Ford (1970-74) who scored 1,717 career points.

Inside The Numbers

• Dempsey led the Muskies with 31 points, had a team-high six assists, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. He went 11-of-21 (.524) from the floor and 7-of-9 (.778) from the free-throw line. 
• Sophomore MJ Smith added 10 points on 4-of-11 (.364) shooting.
• Sophomore Trey Singleton chipped in nine points and grabbed five rebounds.
• Leading the Polar Bears was Marcus Waugh who scored 17 points and nabbed a team-high seven rebounds. He shot 6-of-11 from the floor (.545) and 3-of-4 (.750) from the three-point line.
• Muskingum ended the game going 26-of-64 (.406) from the field with 28 points coming in the paint.
• Ohio Northern finished the night shooting 25-of-59 (.424) from the floor and also earning 28 points from the paint.
• The Polar Bears out-rebounded the Muskies on the night, 38-36.

Game Highlights

To start the game, Ohio Northern went on a quick 10-1 run in the first four minutes of the game. The Polar Bears had their largest lead of the game at 9:11 mark with a 27-14 advantage until the Muskies roared back on a 12-2 run and got within three points, 29-26, with 3:46 remaining. Ohio Northern held on to their small margin heading into halftime, 36-29.

The Muskies took their first lead of the game with 16:57 remaining in the game off a lay up from MJ Smith, making the score 41-39. Muskingum and Ohio Northern continued to battle back-and-forth, trading shots and leads throughout the second half. The Polar Bears ended the game making free-throws to pull away with the victory, 72-66.

What's Next

• The Muskies return to New Concord to defend home court when they take on Mount Union Wednesday, January 15. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Anne C. Steele Center.