ADA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team sealed the season series against Ohio Northern University with a 79-70 Ohio Athletic Conference victory on the Campoli Court, inside the ONU Sports Center. The victory also gauranteed the Yellow Jackets their eighth straight winning season and third straight under the direction of Head Coach Tom Heil.
BW (14-6, 8-5 OAC) won its third straight game and 10th in its last 12 contests. The Yellow Jackets were led by senior two-time All-OAC and two-time Academic All-OAC point guard Jay Battle (Gahana/ Lincoln), who poured in 17 points. In addition, junior forward Tyler Colombo (Strasburg/ Tuscarawas Central Catholic) tallied 13 points and junior Academic All-OAC guard Michael Quiring (Brunswick) and sophomore guard Luke Schaefer (Medina) each had 10 points.
ONU (4-16, 0-13 OAC) had four players in double figures, led by senior forward Daniel Donner, who had a game-high 20 points. Senior two-time All-OAC forward Ryan Bruns contributed 12 markers, and junior Academic All-OAC forward Caleb Bryan and sophomore guard Colton Bachman each had 10.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring with a Schaefer jump shot and the Polar Bears tied the game at 2-2 off a Bruns layup. At 18:14 and the game tied, the teams exchanged baskets that led to a Bruns layup at 13:25 to give ONU a 10-9 advantage. During the next ten minutes, the BW offense began to heat up as it knocked down six three-pointers during a 29-8 run to build a 38-18 lead with less than four minutes in the first frame. The Polar Bears closed out the half on an 11-2 spurt to shrink the Yellow Jacket half time lead to 40-29.
Throughout the second half the Polar Bears battled to trim the Yellow Jacket advantage, but crucial plays from BW thwarted any comeback opportunities. Multiple times the lead went from double digits to single digits, and ONU got as close as 55-51 with 8:07 left, but a quick 6-0 spurt, capped by a block from Battle and a fastbreak fullcourt pass to Quiring for an "old-fashioned three point play" to bring the score to 61-51 with 6:51 left in regulation.
The Yellow Jackets next hit the hardwood this Saturday February 2, when they welcome Wilmington College to Berea for the Annual Al Sirat Grotto Game. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. Partial gate proceeds will go to benefit the Grotto's philanthropy of helping children wityh cerebral palsy. In addition, earlier that morning, BW will celebrate its annual Basketball Alumni Game. All alumni interested in participating should call Tom Heil at 440-826-2115/ theil@bw.edu or Assistant Coach Brian Schmidt at 440-826-2183/ bschmidt@bw.edu.
