box score
John Carroll ran into a struggling team on Saturday night in Westerville, but Otterbein College was ready with an ambush that let a season full of frustration out in a single night.
Buoyed by a school record 18 three-point field goals, the host Cardinals picked up just their fourth win of the season by posting a 98-73 victory against the Blue Streaks at the Rike Center in Westerville, Ohio.
Otterbein led from start to finish, as Adam Wells set the tone by making the first shot of the game from three-point range. The Cardinals would push the lead to double digits at the 15:20 mark on a Ross Banaszak three-pointer to make the score 14-3, then made the advantage 20 points on a Wells lay-up with 6:47 left that made the score 34-14.
Wells would hand Otterbein its biggest lead of the first half when he drilled a three-pointer with seconds left on the clock that sent the two teams into the locker room with the Cardinals out in front 57-26.
The first half numbers were staggering, as Otterbein was 20-27 (.714) from the field, 7-10 (.700) from three-point range and 10-11 (.919) from the free throw line in scoring 57 points.
There would be no let up by Otterbein, which actually made more (11) and attempted more (20) three-point field goals in the second half than in the first. The Cardinals led by as many as 39 points before settling on the final 25-point margin.
JCU did not work the margin down below 25 points until 5:34 remained in the game. Terry Walsh drained two free throws to cut the Otterbein lead to 84-60. Sensing a Blue Streak run, Otterbein went 4-8 down the stretch from beyond the arc to keep John Carroll at bay.
Otterbein (4-13, 3-7 OAC) was paced by a career-high 27 points from Wells, who was 10-16 from the field, including 6-10 from three-point range. Banaszak added 22 points in his 38 minutes of court time.
John Carroll (9-7, 6-4 OAC), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, received 27 points from Walsh, while Maurice Haynes II was the only other Blue Streak in double figures with ten points. Kyle Hubbard scored nine points on 4-5 shooting from the field in eight minutes of play.
