ADA, OH - Host Ohio Northern University earned a nice comeback win on Tuesday night, rallying from as many as 13 points down for a 75-72 overtime win over the University of Rochester men's basketball team.
Rochester (4-7) closes out its non-conference schedule with the loss, its fourth straight. The Polar Bears (6-6) snapped a six game skid with the victory.
The Yellowjackets were paced by senior Tyler Seidman who tied a season high with 18 points, including going 10-12 from the charity stripe. Junior Dylan Peretz picked up his fourth double-double of the season scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Two other players, junior Jared Seltzer and sophomore Mack Montague each added 12 points.
The Polar Bears got a career high 25 points from Jordan Martin off the bench. Konnor Baker chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds for ONU.
Rochester was able to build a 10 point lead after the first 20 minutes thanks to some rough shooting by the home standing Polar Bears. ONU shot just 6-29 (21%) and scored just 19 points in the first half compared to UR's 55% shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The teams would trade baskets for the first 7+ minutes of the second half, with Rochester's lead boosting up to 13 points after a Tyler Sankes layup with 12:10 to go in the game.
Ohio Northern would then go on a 15-2 run to tie the game at 45 with 7:38 remaining. Much of the run was aided by Polar Bear full court pressure which forced numerous UR turnovers. For the contest, the Yellowjackets committed 23 turnovers, the second most in a game this season.
With under three minutes in regulation, Seidman hit four straight free throws to break a 53-53 tie, giving UR a four point lead heading down the stretch. Over the final two minutes, the Yellowjackets would make just 6-10 from the stripe, trying to seal the game.
Ohio Northern battled back in the closing seconds of regulation getting two layups from Baker and then a coast-to-coast score from Joey Hurless with 1.5 seconds remaining to tie the game at 63, sending it to overtime.
In the extra session, ONU would edge the Yellowjackets 12-9, earning their sixth win of the year. A big basket came from the Polar Bears' Isaiah Roux who was held in check most of the day. Roux would make a spinning jump shot from in close with 32 seconds on the clock, putting Ohio Northern up by three. Two 3-point attempts in the closing seconds from Rochester were off the mark.