Otterbein snaps 30-game skid
Corey Howard, Nick Koontz and Connor Clark scored 14 points each and host Otterbein won its first game of the season after 18 losses — and its first in 30 games dating to last January — by defeating Heidelberg 78-69 on Saturday in an Ohio Athletic Conference game.
Justin Carter (13 points) hit a layup and two free throws to break a 34-all tie and spark a 12-0 run to close the first half for the Cardinals (1-18, 1-11). Kiere Bennie, who scored 18 points for Heidelberg (8-11, 4-8), hit a layup to cut the deficit to 54-53 with 9:33 to go, but Otterbein rebuilt its lead.
The Cardinals lost their final 12 games of the 2016-17 season. Their last previous win came on Jan. 7, 2017, an 86-84 overtime victory over Mount Union.
NO. 9 CINCINNATI 62, MEMPHIS 48: Gary Clark had 18 points and nine rebounds, and visiting Cincinnati (19-2, 8-0) built a 34-21 halftime lead in defeating Memphis (13-8, 4-4) in the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats used stingy defense to hold Memphis to 31.1 percent shooting, including 3 of 17 from three-point range. Jeremiah Martin led the Tigers with 20 points.
ST. LOUIS 75, DAYTON 65: Javon Bess of Gahanna scored 20 points and Saint Louis (11-11, 4-5) topped visiting Dayton (10-11, 4-5) in the Atlantic-10. Bess hit a jumper to start an 11-0 run that made it 65-53 with 4:50 to go. Josh Cunningham scored 16 to lead the Flyers.
BALL STATE 111, AKRON 106, 2OT: Tayler Persons and Tahjai Teague scored 26 points each and host Ball State (13-8, 4-4) held on to beat Akron (10-10, 3-5) in the Mid-American Conference, its first win over the Zips since 2004. Ivey scored a career-high 48 points for Akron — hitting 15 of 23 shots, including 9 of 12 from three-point range, and 9 of 10 free throws — to break the Worthen Arena scoring record of 41 set by Bonzi Wells and Earl Boykins. Ivey hit a 25-foot threepointer to tie it at the end of the first OT.
TOLEDO 101, BOWLING GREEN 75: Tre’Shaun Fletcher scored 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting, grabbed 12 rebounds and had eight assists to lead host Toledo (15-6, 7-1) past Bowling Green (12-9, 3-5) in the MAC. The Rockets shot 67 percent in their seventh straight victory.
KENT STATE 84, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 76: Kevin Zabo had 22 points, Jaylin Walker added 21 and Kent State (11-10, 5-3) overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to win a MAC game at Central Michigan (13-8, 2-6). EASTERN MICHIGAN
58, MIAMI 48: Dalonte Brown had 17 points as host Miami (11-10, 4-4) dropped a MAC game to Eastern Michigan (12-9, 3-5), which widened a 50-47 lead in the final 1:39. OHIO NORTHERN 82, CAPITAL 60: Ganiyu Yahaya led Capital (9-10, 5-7) with nine points, and the Crusaders shot just 27.9 percent from the field in an OAC loss at Ohio Northern (13-6, 8-4). Ryan Bruns had 26 points for the Polar Bears, who led 46-26 at halftime. Capital made only 19 of 68 shots. WITTENBERG 84, DENISON 61: Chad Roy scored 25 points and Wittenberg (19-0, 11-0) pulled away from visiting Denison (10-9, 6-6) with runs on either side of halftime in a North Coast Athletic Conference game. Maxwell Siwik had 15 points to lead the Big Red.
OHIO WESLEYAN 78, OBERLIN 71: Jake Hecker had 16 points to lead five players in double figures for host Ohio Wesleyan (14-5, 9-3), which pulled away after halftime for an NCAC win over Oberlin (9-10, 3-9). Andre Campbell led Oberlin with 29 points.