BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team secured their sixth straight victory in part to a career day from sophomore guard Luke Schaefer (Medina) at the Lou Higgins Center, inside Ursprung Gymnasium.
BW (10-4, 4-3 OAC) had four players in double figures, led by Schaefer with a career-high 16 points. Sophomore guard Matthew Dimitrijevs (Broadview Heights/Brecksville Broadview Heights) poured in 18, while senior two-time Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) contributed with 14. Senior guard Kyle Nader (Vermilion) tallied 13.
Ohio Northern (4-10, 0-7 OAC) was led by three-time All-OAC center Ryan Bruns who scored 32 points and grabbed six rebounds. Senior forward Daniel Donner marked 17 and sophomore guard Colton Bachman tallied 14 points.
This game snaps a five game regular season losing streak to the Polar Bears, as the last win for the Yellow Jackets was an 80-77 victory, in the 2015-16 season.
As BW held onto a 12-11 lead at the 15:30 mark, the Yellow Jackets went on a 14-3 run, bringing the score to 26-14 with 12:38 left in the first. Over the next six minutes, the teams scored nine points each and brought the score to 35-25. From there, BW went on an 8-0 spurt, capped off by Dimitrijevs' fifth three of the half. Up 43-25, the Yellow Jackets continued their momentum and closed out the half on a 9-7 run and went into the locker room with a 52-32 lead.
Seven minutes into the second half, Ohio Northern trimmed the 20 point Yellow Jacket lead to 11, 63-52 off a Bruns layup in the paint. At 10:36, the Polar Bears shrunk the lead to single digits off a Colton Bachman three-pointer. With the score at 66-59, Ohio Northern went on a 4-3 run and narrowed the lead to 69-63, the smallest lead of the half for the Yellow Jackets. BW was not wavered, and answered with a 16-10 run, capped off by Schaefer's layup, and career-best 16 points. BW went onto close out the game and secure their fourth conference victory at 90-75.
The Yellow Jackets open a two-game road trip with a contest against Wilmington College on Saturday, January 12 at 3 p.m. BW will be back at home on Saturday, January 19 when they host No. 10 Nationally ranked Marietta College at 3 p.m, inside Ursprung Gymnasium.