BEREA, Ohio – Career-tying days from sophomore guard Matthew Dimitrijevs (Broadview Heights/Brecksville Broadview Heights) and junior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Michael Quiring (Brunswick) sprung the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team to a 100-67 victory over Muskingum University, at the Lou Higgins Center, inside Ursprung Gymnasium.
BW (13-6, 7-5 OAC) had four Yellow Jackets in double figures, led by senior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln), who scored a game-high 23 points. Dimitrijevs marked 20 points and six three-pointers, tying career-best for both categories. Senior guard Kyle Nader (Vermilion) and sophomore guard Luke Schaefer (Medina) poured in 12. Quiring was BW's facilitator, leading the game with seven assists, which tied a career-best.
Muskingum (7-13, 3-9 OAC) was led by junior forward Cameron Miller who had 13 points and freshman guard Trey Singleton contributed with 10.
BW has swept the season series and is now 4-2 against the Muskies over the past three campaigns. This is the second game this season the Yellow Jackets have scored 100 points, with the last coming against Heidelberg University on January 2, when BW claimed a 100-78 victory inside Ursprung Gymnasium.
The Yellow Jackets shot out of the gates and went on a 17-5 run over the game's first seven minutes. The Muskies retaliated with a 17-11 run to bring the score to 28-22 at 9:20. BW's defense stifled Muskingum's offense for the next five minutes, going on a 15-0 run, their best scoring run of the game and bringing the score to 43-22 with 4:32 left in the half. The teams exchanged baskets for the final minutes and BW went into halftime up 50-30. Ball control was key in the first half as BW had 13 assists to four turnovers and Muskingum had four assists to 12 turnovers.
BW started the second half on a 10-5 spurt and Muskingum would call a timeout at 16:59. Over the next 11 minutes the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 93-58, capped off by a Dimitrijevs career-tying sixth three, for their largest lead of the game. In the final six minutes Muskingum fought hard but with the insurmountable lead BW built, it was to no avail, and the Yellow Jackets came away with the 100-67 victory.
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road next for an OAC contest against Ohio Northern University on Wednesday, January 30 at 7 p.m and will have a two-game home stand to start February. First game wil be against Wilmington College on Saturday the 2nd at 3 p.m, and will host cross-town rival John Carroll University on Wednesday the 6th.