Late second-half rally pushes Ohio Northern past Men’s Basketball

The Muskingum men's basketball team held a 17-point advantage over Ohio Northern at intermission, but the Polar Bears rallied back late in the second half to take the 82-69 win on Saturday afternoon in the Anne C. Steele Center.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (8-13 overall, 6-8 Ohio Athletic Conference), Ohio Northern (15-6 overall, 10-4 Ohio Athletic Conference)
• Location: New Concord, Ohio – Anne C. Steele Center

Inside the Numbers  

• Marcus Dempsey erupted with 34 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
• Jalen Paige and Jayson Peoples each collected eight points and three rebounds.
• Devon Peart grabbed a team-high six rebounds and two steals.
• Muskingum shot .362 (25-of-69) from the field, made eight three-pointers, and went 11-for-14 at the free throw line (.786).
• Four Ohio Northern players scored in double-digits.
• Ryan Bruns poured out a team-high 26 points and 14 rebounds for Ohio Northern.
• Nate Burger tallied 19 points, Joey DiOrio netted 14 points, while Daniel Donner added 10 points.
• Ohio Northern ended the game shooting .453 (29-of-64) from the field, made seven three-pointers, and went 17-for-24 (.708) from the free throw line.

Game Highlights

Back-to-back three's and a jumper pushed the Muskies to a 14-6 lead at the 15:12 marker in the first half. Half-way through the stanza, Ohio Northern went on an 11-5 run to tie the contest at 25-25 with 6:28 left. Muskingum then went red hot as they outscored the Polar Bears 22-5, which included knocking down four trey's, to lead 47-30 at intermission. The Muskies shot .471 from the field, while Dempsey netted 23 points in the first half.

The Polar Bears started the second half firing shots on all cylinders as they sparked a 17-6 run in the first five minutes to cut the Muskies lead to six points, 53-47. Muskingum continued to hold the lead until a trey by ONU's Joey DiOrio gave the Polar Bears the 68-65 advantage with 4:34 to go in regulation. Muskingum's offense struggled in the last few minutes as Ohio Northern went a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line during the final three minutes to take the come-from-behind victory.

Up Next

• Muskingum returns to the court on Wednesday, February 7 for a 7:00 p.m. contest at Mount Union.