WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored 23 points as the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team defeated Otterbein University, 76-75, tonight (Wednesay, January 2, 2013) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Rike Center.  The victory was a season-high five straight for the Yellow Jackets.
 
With its win, win, BW is 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the OAC. The key to the win for BW included outscoring Otterbein from three-point range, 33-12.  With its loss, Otterbein is 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the OAC and lost for the third straight time.
 
In addition to Payne for BW, junior All-OAC guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/Holy Name) had 15 points and senior Academic All-OAC guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary) had 10 markers. Otterbein was led by sophomore guard Andy Yazrombek with 18 points. He was one of four Cardinals to tally double figures.
 
The Yellow Jackets got off to an early, 8-0 lead at the 17:49 mark when sophomore guard Jaron Crowe (Mentor) made a three-pointer. Following an Otterbein hoop, BW went on an 11-0 run, including six points from Payne, en route to a 19-2 lead with 14:16 left in the first stanza.

The Cardinals scored 11 straight points to cut the deficit to 19-13 before Crowe canned a triple at 9:39 to make it 22-13. Otterbein made another two-pointer, but junior guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland) became the fifth separate Yellow Jacket to can a trey for a 25-15 advantage with 9:16 left. Undaunted, the Cardinals scored four straight points to get within 25-19 with 8:03 left.

After a Payne hoop at 7:37 made it 27-19, the Cards scored four straight points to close to 27-23 at 6:26. After a Krakowiak foul shot at  6:11 made it 28-23, Otterbein scored four straight to make it 28-27 with 5:11 left.  Three-pointers by Umbel and Crowe sandwiched a Cardinal basket to give BW a 34-29 lead with 4:25 left before the intermission.

Otterbein then made five straight foul shots, including one by Bakenhaster, to tie the game at 34-34 with 3:37 left.  The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 36-34 when Juergens made a layup at 2:24. But Payne tied it at 36-36 when Payne dunked at 1:51. A foul shot at 1:44 gave Otterbein a 37-36 lead but BW junior guard Skyler Simpson (Centerburg) gave the Jackets a 39-37 lead with a three at 1:23.

Again Otterbein tied it at 39-39 at 1:11 before Krakowiak gave the lead back to BW at 41-39 with two foul shots with 46 seconds left.  The score remained that way at the intermission.

BW gained a 42-39 lead when Payne made a foul shot at 19:43, but an Otterbein triple tied it at 42-all with 18:14 left. Following a BW basket, Otterbein scored four straight points to earn a 46-44 lead with 14:53 left when Bakenhaster made a layup. After foul shot by Payne and a basket by sophomore backup center Aaron Selmek (Delaware/ Columbus St. Francis De Sales) gave BW a 47-46 lead at 13:44, the Cardinals scored nine of the next 11 points to lead 55-49 with 12:00 left when senior center John Finnegan scored.

Baskets by Krakowiak and Simpson cut the deficit to 55-53 before a pair of foul shots by Cardinal junior guard C.J. Juilan made two foul shots at 57-53. An Umbel basket cut the lead back to two points and a Payne hoop at 9:15 tied it at 57-57 before Bakenhaster gave Otterbein back the lead at 59-57 at 8:19 and Julian made it 61-57 with a jumper at 7:29.

Fairhurst cut it to 61-60 with a three-pointer at 7:04 before Bischoff scored five straight points to give Otterbein a 66-60 advantage with 5:49 remaining.  A basket by Payne and a jumper by Krakowiak close the gap to 66-64 with 4:52 left before Otterbein's Yazrombek made two foul shots at 4:33 left for a 68-64 lead.

An Otterbein basketball gave his team a 70-64 lead before Payne made two foul shots off a 1-and-1 situation and then scored on an "old-fashioned" three-point play to make it a 70-69 game with 3:10 left. Yazrombek made one of two foul shots at 2:14 for a 2-point lead but Krakowiak canned a triple to give BW a 72-71 lead. A Yazormbek layup gave the lead back to Otterbein at 73-72 with 1:35 left.

Payne gave the lead back to BW at 74-73 when he scored on a layip with 1:16 left. Back came the Cardinals with Bischoff canning a jumper with 33 seconds left for a 75-74 lead. After a Farrell missed triple, Otterbein's Julian was fouled. He missed the one-and-one with 12 seconds left. After a BW timeout with eight seconds left, Otterbein called timeout.  

The Yellow Jackets had one last chance to tie or win when Payne went to the basket and was fouled with three seconds left.  Following an Otterbein timeout, Payne made both foul shots for a 76-75 lead. Otterbein then had a chance to win it, but the shot was off its mark and BW claimed its fifth straight win.
 
BW is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 5 against OAC rival Marietta College at 3:00 p.m. in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.
 
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.eduor Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.