Men’s Basketball defeats Otterbein on the road

The Muskingum men's basketball team beat Otterbein on the road, 75-71, on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (9-14 overall, 7-9 Ohio Athletic Conference), Otterbein (1-22 overall, 1-15 Ohio Athletic Conference)
• Location: Westerville, Ohio – Rike Center

Inside the Numbers  

• Marcus Dempsey poured out 35 points on 11-of-24 shooting and added seven rebounds.
• Devon Peart contributed 13 points, which included going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
• Jalen Paige tallied eight points, which included going a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line.
• Jacob Geller snagged eight rebounds, while Rashay Douglas grabbed seven.
• Muskingum shot .412 (21-of-51) from the field, made seven three-pointers, and went 26-for-30 at the free throw line (.867).
• Justin Carter scored a team-high 18 points, while Matt Hughes netted 14 points, and Maurice Beavers chipped in 13 points for the Cardinals.
• Otterbein concluded the contest shooting .407 (24-of-59) from the field, made eight three-pointers, and went 15-for-18 (.833) from the free throw line.

Game Highlights

Dempsey netted eight points, which included two trey's, in the Muskies 12-2 run in the first five minutes of the game. The Muskies offense was grooving in the first half as they held the largest lead at the 2:39 marker when Brandon Keyes drained a free throw, making it 45-22. Otterbein then scored six straight points to close off the stanza. Muskingum shot .458 from the field in the first half en route to holding a 45-28 advantage at the break.

Muskingum scored 13 points to push its lead to 21, 58-37, in the first seven minutes of the second half. With 12:38 on the clock until 1:02 left in regulation, Otterbein creeped its way back into the game by outscoring Muskingum, 29-11, to make it 69-66. After the timeout, Dempsey made a jumper, while the Cardinals tallied a layup to make it 71-68 with 24 seconds on the clock. Paige made two essential free throws with 19 seconds left, but a trey by Otterbein's Carter cut the Muskie lead to two with nine seconds remaining. Dempsey drilled two free throws with one second left to secure the Muskies victory.  

Up Next

• Muskingum will return to the Anne C. Steele Center to take on rival Marietta on Wednesday, February 14. Tip-off is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.