BEREA, Ohio –The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team closed out the regular season portion of its schedule as it cruised past Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference and Seniors' and Parents' Day game by a final score of 95-70 in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Center.
BW (17-8, 11-7 OAC) has now won nine straight games in the series, including five of the last six games at home. The Yellow Jackets, whose four seniors did not lose a game in the series and won all four regular season finales, had three players score in double figures led by senior All-OAC forward Jake Fetherolf (Norwalk) as he recorded his OAC-leading 11th double-double of the season with a game-high tying 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior All-OAC guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion) poured in 18 games. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) chipped in 15 points.
With his 18 points, Kuhn moved into sixth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,846 points and now needs 20 points to pass Hall of Famer Shawn McCormick in fifth place with 1,866 points and 23 points to pass Hall of Famer Kevin Braaten in fourth place with 1,869 points.
With his 10 rebounds, Fetherolf moved into sixth place on the all-time rebounding list with 957 rebounds.
Wilmington, (11-13, 7-11 OAC) has not won in Berea since the 2013-14 season when it posted an 87-74 victory on December 16. The Quakers had two players score in double digits led by senior guard Christian Jones as he scored a game-high tying 20 points. Senior forward Nathan Scott added 11 points.
BW jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the early going of the first half when Kuhn scored on a layup at the 16:23 mark. The Yellow Jackets pushed their lead to 21-8 when sophomore forward Drew Sova (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) scored on a layup at 10:54. Wilmington cut the lead down to 35-21 when Scott knocked down a three-pointer at the 5:44 mark. BW closed out the first half on a 11-7 run to lead 46-28 at the intermission.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 61-36 when Fetherolf scored on a layup at the 15:52 mark of the second half. BW pushed its lead to as many as points 29 points at 80-51 on layup by Kuhn at 7:55. The Quakers only came as close as 14 points early in the second half when Jones scored on a layup at the 19:20 mark.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Tuesday, February 20 when they will enter the OAC Tournament as the fourth seed and will host the fifth-seeded University of Mount Union in a quarterfinal game in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 7:30.
The OAC Tournament semifinal games will be played on Thursday, February 22 on the campuses of the highest remaining seeds at 7:30 p.m. The OAC Tournament championship game will be contest on Saturday, February 24 on the campus of the highest remaining seed at 7:30 p.m.
