Posted: Feb 01, 2014
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Senior three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) and 2-time All-OAC guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Holy Name) each scored 19 points as the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team defeated OAC rival Otterbein University, 74-70, in the Rike Center. The winx broke a two-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets.
BW (10-9 overall, 6-6 OAC) also 14 points from junior point guard Jaron Crowe (Mentor) and 10 from senior guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland). Payne now has 1,475 career points and stands 12th on the Yellow Jacket all-time scoring list. Krakowiak now has 1,217 career points and stands 19th all-time.
Otterbein (4-15 overall, 3-9 OAC) was led by freshman guard Matt Rhodes with a game-high 20 points.
In the first half, the Cardinal jumped out to a 6-0 lead at 17:38 before Crowe canned a long three-pointer to cut the lead in half at 6-3 at 17:06. BW got as close as one point on two separate occasions with the last at 17-16 with 11:59 left when Payne made one of two foul shots.
After Otterbein gained a 21-6 lead, the Yellow Jackets came back to tie the game at 21-21 when Fairhurst canned a three-pointer at 9:08 and then drove the lane and scored at 7:56. BW took a 23-21 advantage when freshman guard Jake Brandy (Hudson) made a layup at 7:15.
There were three ties and six lead changes before Otterbein senior forward Jon Juergens made a shot hook shot with 30.7 seconds left before intermission to give the Cardinals a 35-34 halftime advantage.
In the second half, BW gained a three-point lead at 38-35 at 19:01 when Payne scored two straight hoops, but sophomore guard Jake Bischoff tied it for the fifth time with a triple at 18:44 to make it 38-38. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cardinals 14-2, including an 11-0 run to take a 52-40 lead at 14:31 when Payne canned a trey and prompted an Otterbein timeout.
Undaunted, the Cardinals countered with a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 54-49 when Bischoff made a steal and scored on a layup at 10:30. But the Yellow Jackets returned the favor with a 7-2 run, including a Fairhurst triple at 8:00 to restore a double-digit lead at 61-51.
Otterbein went on a 15-4 run to take the lead at 66-65 at 3:07 left when freshman guard Jake Phillis made a layup. The lead grew to 68-65 when Payne was called for a technical foul and Philis made both foul shots at 2:23. BW regained the lead at 70-68 with a 5-0 run on a layup by Payne at 1:29 and a triple by Krakowiak with 41.3 seconds left.
BW gained a 72-68 lead when Crowe canned both ends of a 1-and-1 with 23.2 seconds left, but a Rhodes putback with seven seconds left made it a two-point game again. Krakowiak ended matters with two foul shots with 5.5 seconds remaining.
BW is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 5 when they host the University of Mount Union in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 7:30 p.m. Next Saturday, the BW men play at Wilmington College at 3:00 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail atkruple@bw.edu or 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 athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.
