Nate Burger scores a career-high 22 points, leads Men's Basketball in loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater

By Tim Glon

ADA — Junior Nate Burger (Dayton/Alter) scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in an 87-72 loss to visiting Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

Burger's 22 points led five players in double figures in scoring for the Polar Bears (1-3 overall).

Seniors Konnor Baker (Ada) and Devon Allen (Lima/Senior), junior Travis Feitshans (Arcanum/Franklin Monroe) and sophomore Ryan Bruns (Chicasaw/Marion Local) each had 10 points for Ohio Northern.

Chris Jones scored 25 points and Scotty Tyler had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Warhawks (3-0).

Whitewater raced out to a 20-4 lead in the game's first eight minutes, only to see Ohio Northern battle back to within 41-34 by intermission.

ONU then rattled off the first nine points of the second half on the strength of two baskets and two assists by Feitshans to grab a 43-41 lead with 17:32 left in the game.

UWW regained a 52-46 lead, but a layup by Burger off a Feitshans assist and a Feitshans basket off a steal by Burger made it 52-50 with 11:31 to go.

The Warhawks then went on an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 63-52 with 8:27 remaining.

Ohio Northern would get within nine points on two separate occasions the rest of the way, but UWW would hold on for the win.

"We need to get more consistent with our play," ONU head coach Rich Bensman said. "We played poorly at the beginning of the game, but I was happy with the way we got back into the game. We just need to avoid the lulls in our play."

The Polar Bears finished the game 24-of-54 from the floor for 44.4 percent and were 6-of-17 from 3-point range for 35.3 percent, while the red-hot Warhawks made 33-of-57 field goal attempts for 57.9 percent and was 12-of-21 from beyond the arc for 57.1 percent.

ONU out-rebounded UWW 31-26.

The Polar Bears will return to action Dec. 3 when they open Ohio Athletic Conference play when Capital comes to the ONU Sports Center for a 3 pm contest.