PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team battled No. 6-ranked Wooster throughout most of the game before falling 67-53 in the opening round of the Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) Invitational at the Skibo Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

Despite four players scoring in double figures, the Polar Bears fall to 1-1, while the Fighting Scots improve to 3-0.

Junior Scott Schnelle led the way for ONU with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, also notching a team-high four rebounds.

Freshman Joe Staley, freshman Branden Rushton and sophomore Taylor Kuhlman scored 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

ONU was able to stay in the game by dominating the turnover battle, turning it over just six times compared to Wooster's 15.

After jumping out to a quick 5-4 lead on a three-pointer by Kuhlman and two free throws by Schnelle, Wooster answered back with six straight points to make it 10-5.

Wooster gained its biggest lead of the half with a Bryan Wickliffe layup to make the score 19-10 with 12:41 remaining in the half.

Baskets by Staley, Kuhlman, and Rushton quickly cut the lead to 19-16 at the 9:41 mark.

After trading points for several possessions, ONU ended the half with jumpers by freshman Dominique Royal and Schnelle to make it a 28-25 Wooster advantage into the break.

A quick 9-2 run for the Fighting Scots pushed the lead to 37-27 with 17:12 remaining.

Minutes later, two straight three-point plays for Schnelle and Staley made it a 42-38 score with 11:11 left.

A Wooster three-pointer was answered with a trey by Kuhlman, before two more three-pointers by Wooster made it 51-41 with 7:15 remaining.

After trading buckets, the Fighting Scots then made another 7-0 run to push the lead to 60-44 lead with 4:11 to go.

Sophomore Tony Meyer sank a jumper from behind the arc, Schnelle notched a three-point play and Rushton added two free throws in an 8-2 Polar Bear run to cut Wooster's advantage to 62-52 with 1:16 remaining.

The Fighting Scots were able to ice the game by sinking five free throws, leaving the final score at 67-53 for Wooster.

Wooster dominated the boards, out-rebounding ONU 37 to 17.

The Fighting Scots also shot the ball much better, shooting 54.5 percent from the field (24-for-44) and 92.9 percent (13-for-14) from the line compared to Northern's 36.5 percent (19-for-52) from the field and 66.7 percent (10-for-15) from the line.

Ohio Northern will take on the loser of Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) versus Susquehanna (Pa.) in the consolation game of the Carnegie Mellon Invitational Sunday at 1 pm in the Skibo Gymnasium.