Muskingum University Athletics
Fighting Muskies

Men's Basketball cruises past the Cardinals

The Muskingum men's basketball team cruised past the Otterbein Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, 77-55.

Men's Basketball cruises past the Cardinals
Box Score
December 15, 2018
The Muskingum men's basketball team cruised past the Otterbein Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, 77-55.
 
The Basics 
  • Records: Muskingum (4-4 overall, 1-3 OAC), Otterbein (2-6 overall, 0-4 OAC)
  • Location: Westerville, Ohio
Inside the Numbers 
  • Senior Devon Peart guided the Muskies' offense with 24 points and three assists while hauling in eight rebounds.
  • Sophomore Mitch Clark generated 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.
  • Freshman MJ Smith cashed in a career-high of eight points.
  • Senior Jayson Peoples and freshman Trey Singleton both added six points for the Muskies.
  • As a team, the Muskies went 26-for-51 (51.0%) from the field and 9-for-25 from the arc (36.0%).
  • Austin Springer led Otterbein in scoring with nine points while Eddie Anders put up eight points. 
  • Otterbein made 37.3% of their shots (19-for-51), went 7-for-26 from the arc (26.9%), and ended the contest shooting 10-for-19 from the free-throw line (52.6%).
Game Highlights 
  • Muskingum and Otterbein went back-and-forth during the first seven minutes of play with neither team leading by more than five points. Then, Peart gave the Muskies an eight-point edge (20-12) after knocking down a deep three-pointer with 11:27 on the clock. This ignited a 12-7 run for Muskingum, putting them up 13 points (32-19) at the 6:04 juncture. Otterbein answered with a 6-2 span after Connor Clark hit two free-throws, making it 34-26 with 3:40 to play. The Muskies followed with a 6-1 spurt thanks to a jumper from Smith, establishing a 40-27 lead at the half.

  • In the second half, Muskingum narrowly outscored Otterbein (13-11) in the opening minutes of play after senior Brandon Keyes drained a free-throw with 12:15 remaining, making the score 53-38. After this, senior Jalen Paige sank a basket from behind-the-arc to ignite a 19-4 burst, giving the Muskies a commanding 30-point lead (72-42) with 5:30 left to play. Otterbein managed a 13-5 run in the final minutes of play, but it was not enough to overcome the large deficit. Muskingum went on to win the game, 77-55.

Up Next 

  • Muskingum next hosts OAC rival Marietta on Wednesday, December 19. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.