By Tim Glon

WILMINGTON — Senior Lucas Penningtonscored 16 points and junior Konnor Bakeradded 11 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in an 80-61 loss at Wilmington Wednesday night at Raizk Arena.

The Polar Bears (10-10 overall, 5-8 Ohio Athletic Conference) rallied from a 42-25 halftime deficit to pull within 51-48 on a pair of free throws by sophomore Aron Thress with 11:08 left to play.

But the Quakers (9-10, 6-7 OAC), scored 12 consecutive points en route to a 16-2 run to regain a 67-50 advantage with 5:01 remaining.

Pennington nailed a 3-pointer to put ONU up 11-10 early and sophomore Joey Hurlessadded a free throw 16 seconds later to push the lead to 12-10.

WC went on a 19-2 run late in the first half to take a commanding 40-22 lead with 1:04 left in the half.

The Quakers were led in scoring by R.J. Leppert and Jonathan Bibbs with 14 points each.

The Polar Bears will return home on Saturday to face Mount Union at 3 pm at the ONU Sports Center.