Napier leads Men's Basketball to 76-64 win at Wilmington
By Brandt Marshall
WILMINGTON — Senior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored 18 points in just 20 minutes to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team to a 76-64 victory over Wilmington on Wednesday night at Raizk Arena.
The Polar Bears (4-3 overall, 1-1 OAC) got 13 points each from seniors Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) and Landen Long (Mason), and fellow senior Michael Berner (Springboro) added eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Freshmen Will Miller (Ottoville) chipped in 10 points and three rebounds, and freshman Mason Studer (Galion/Colonel Crawford) added six points and a career-high eight rebounds.
The Quakers (3-4 overall, 0-2 OAC) were led by Bryce Bird with 17 points.
Wilmington jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Berner slammed home a dunk to give Northern its first lead at 6-5 with 16:23 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets for the next 10 minutes when Obed Achirem would hit two free throws to give Wilmington a 24-23 lead with 6:06 left in the half.
Long capped a 9-2 run for the Polar Bears with a made jumper to give Northern a 32-26 lead with just over a minute remaining in the half.
Northern's defense stood tall to hold the Quakers to a free throw to close out the first half and lead 32-27 at the break.
ONU started the second half on a 15-7 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Napier, to make it 47-34 with 14:11 left in the game.
Wilmington would not get within 10 points the rest of the way, and a 3-pointer from junior Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) gave Northern its largest lead of the game at 58-43 with 11:13 remaining.
The hosts closed the gap to 62-52 before the visitors stifled the comeback with a layup from Scott to stretch the lead back to 15 at 68-53 with 5:54 remaining.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the way, and Jayden Lewis closed out the scoring with a jumper with six seconds remaining to make the score 76-64.
The Polar Bears dominated the paint, outscoring the Quakers 44-28.
Northern made 28-of-60 field goal attempts for 46.7% and was 6-of-16 from 3-point range for 37.5%, while Wilmington was 23-of-63 from the floor for 36.5% and hit 6-of-19 from beyond the arc for 31.6%.
ONU out-rebounded WC 42-35.
The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday when they continue Ohio Athletic Conference play with a 2 p.m. contest at No. 6-ranked Mount Union as part of a men's-women's doubleheader at the McPherson Athletic Complex.