BEREA, OHIO -- Senior center Andrew Bene (Hinckley/ Medina Highland) earned Most Valuable Player honors and scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball team defeated North Central (Ill.) College, 72-67, tonight (Sunday, December 28, 2008) in the Championship Game of the Otterbein College 'O' Club Classic in the Rike Center in Westerville.
In addition to Bene, junior guard Louis Tumblin (Elyria/ Senior) scored 14 points and senior two-time Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Dennis Santiago (Brook Park/ Middleburg Heights Midpark) had 11 and joined Bene on the All-Tournament team. For North Central, senior forward Matt Rogers came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Junior guard Reid Barringer and senior forward Chris Drennan joined Rogers in double figures with 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
With its win, B-W improves to 4-7 overall. With its loss, North Central is now 8-3 overall.
In the first half, B-W jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 19:47 mark when Bene scored on a layup. North Central then went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead at the 17:02 mark when Drennan scored on a jump shot. The Yellow Jackets then went on a 10-2 run to regain the lead at 12-11 with 14:42 left when Tumblin made a jumper. Following four ties and six lead changes, the Cardinals regained the lead at 24-23 with 8:48 left when senior guard Mitch Raridon made a layup. North Central extended its lead to five points on two separate occasions with the last being at 30-25 with 6:25 left when junior forward David Twyman made a layup.
The Yellow Jackets went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 31-30 with 3:55 left when Santiago made a steal, drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup. North Central then outscored the Yellow Jackets 8-4 and took a 38-35 at halftime when Rogers rebounded a missed shot and scored on a layup.
In the second half, the Cardinals increased their lead to five points at 40-35 with 19:03 left when junior guard Jon Knapczyk scored on a layup. Over the next eight minutes, the Yellow Jackets outscored North Central 14-8 and took a 49-48 lead with 11:41 left when sophomore guard Zane Meeder (Eria, Pa./ Fairview) made a layup. Following a North Central basket, B-W sophomore guard Jake Cayton (Magnolia/ Sandy Valley) scored five straight points, including a three-pointer with 9:00 left to give BW a 54-50 advantage.
The Cardinals scored the next four points to tie the game at 54-54. The game was also tied 56-56, 58-58 and 60-60. B-W then scored six straight points to take its largest lead of the game at 66-60 with 1:33 left when Bene made two foul shots. The Yellow Jackets made six-of-eight free throws in the final :58.7 to win their second straight game and the title of the 29th Annual Smokey Ballanger Classic.
The Yellow Jackets return to Ohio Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 when it returns to Westerville to play Otterbein College in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at 7:30 p.m.
Media and fans are reminded that they can listen to almost every B-W men's and women's basketball games LIVE on campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, and via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com.
Media and fans are reminded that two more B-W men's basketball games will be televised by SportsTime Ohio (www.sportstimeohio.com). They are the January 17, 2009 home game versus Muskingum College at 3:00 p.m. and its February 18 contest at cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach Duane Sheldon, please call 440-826-2115 or e-mail at dsheldon@bw.edu. You can get all of the latest B-W athletics information by visiting our Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics.
