Rushton leads Men's Basketball in 69-50 loss at Wilmington

By: Andrew Korba

WILMINGTON -- Junior Branden Rushton scored a team high 16 points as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell to Wilmington by a 69-50 score on Wednesday evening at Fred Raizk Arena.

The Polar Bears now stand at 7-9 on the season and 3-6 in OAC play, while the Quakers improve to 8-8 and 5-4 in conference play.

Rushton shot a solid 7-of-11 from the field and also pulled down five boards.

Junior Jared Horstman also reached double digit scoring with 12 points on the night.

Northern held leads of 35-34 and 43-42 in the second half, but Wilmington finished the game on a 15-0 run, holding the Polar Bears scoreless for the last 5:25.

The Quakers built an early 8-2 lead, but ONU responded with a 6-0 run to tie things up at 8-8.

Wilmington would come right back and used a 13-3 run to open up a 21-12 advantage with just over eight minutes left in the first half.

The Polar Bears responded with an 8-0 run to cut the Quaker lead to 21-20 with 6:03 left in the first half.

Wilmington would hold their lead and take a 29-25 advantage into the half.

The Polar Bears were 19-of-48 (38.2 percent) from the field, while the Quakers were 27-of-54 (50 percent).

WC outrebounded ONU by a 37-28 margin and had 12 turnovers, while Northern had 16.

The Polar Bears will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to John Carroll. Tip off is scheduled for 2 pm.