ADA — Senior Scott Schnelle and sophomore Jared Horstman each scored 12 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in a non-conference basketball game against Wittenberg Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.
WU's Michael Cooper had a game-high 17 points and the visiting Tigers defeated the host Polar Bears 75-66.
Ohio Northern falls to 6-3 overall, while Wittenberg improves to 5-2.
The Tigers led from start to finish, racing to a 17-5 lead just 7:13 into the contest.
The Polar Bears battled back with a 10-0 run and closed to within 17-15, but each time ONU would get close, WU would rspond with a run of its own to extend its lead.
WU led 34-23 late in the first half, but back-to-back threes by sophomore Brandon Rushton pulled ONU within 36-29 at halftime.
The Tigers led by 13 points on three occasions in the first six minutes of the second half and were up 63-49 with 6:28 left when Ohio Northern went on another run.
Back-to-back threes by freshman Lucas Pennington trimmed the lead to 63-55 and a pair of free throws by Schnelle made it a 63-57 game with 4:47 left.
A steal by junior Taylor Kuhlman gave ONU a chance to trim the deficit even further, but an ONU turnover followed by a three-pointer by Cooper gave WU a 66-57 lead.
Trailing 69-59 with 1:49 left, the Polar Bears made a final run.
A three-pointer by Horstman made it 59-62 with 1:39 to play. Horstman then stole the inbounds pass and made a layup to trim the margin to 69-64 with 1:28 remaining.
Another WU turnover gave the Polar Bears the ball back, but three chances netted no points and two free throws by Josh McKee with 36 left iced the game for the Tigers.
Alex Brandt scored 12 points, McKee and Zack Leahy added 11 points each and Scott Masin chipped in 10 points for Wittenberg.
Ohio Northern made 23 of 60 field goals for 38.3 percent, while Wittenberg made 24 of 48 field goals for 50 percent. WU won the rebounding battle by a slim 32-31 margin, despite a career-high eight rebounds by Horstman.
The Polar Bears will return to action Dec. 28-29 at the Thomas More (Ky.) Tournament. ONU will face No. 7-ranked Williams (Mass.) at 5 pm on Dec. 28 and will play either Thomas More or Cincinnati-Claremont on Dec. 29.