First Posted: 1/3/2015
BLUFFTON — The Bluffton University women continued their winning ways as they returned to conference play with a 58-46 victory over the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday. Bluffton improved to 8-3 and 3-1 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference while Rose-Hulman fell to 6-5 and 2-2 in the league.
Kaitlyn Pennekamp scored 17 and added five rebounds and four steals, and Taylor Whitaker finished with in 16 points, three assists and two steals for Bluffton. Teammate Rachel Beining contributed eight rebounds.
Bluffton next plays on the road in Cincinnati against the Mount St Joseph Lions at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
UNOH 70, Lourdes 59
SYLVANIA — At halftime of the University of Northwestern Ohio’s women’s basketball game against Lourdes University on Saturday afternoon, Sophomore Natalie Billing had two points. In the second half, she and the Racers took advantage of a porous Grey Wolves defense to put the game away midway through the frame.
Billing scored 13 points in the second half, including three uncontested layups off out-of-bounds plays that helped UNOH (6-10, 4-4 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference) stretch their lead out over Lourdes (5-11, 1-7 WHAC) on their way to a 70-59 win to open the second half of the season.
Joining Billing in double digit scoring for UNOH were Becca Harshman (12) and Eboni Adams (10).
UNOH will return home for a 5:30 p.m. Wednesday game against Marygrove.
Case Western 61, ONU 50
CLEVELAND — Senior Jordan Kimes led Ohio Northern with 15 points and five rebounds against Case Western Reserve in a non-conference game at the Horsburgh Gymnasium.
Ohio Northern fell to 8-3 while Case Western Reserve improves to 6-5.
Polar Bear freshman Amy Bullimore added eight points and had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Ohio Northern is next in action Wednesday as the Polar Bears play host Ohio Athletic Conference opponent Mount Union at 7:30 pm at the ONU Sports Center.
Men’s basketball
UNOH 63, Lourdes 50
SYLVANIA — UNOH (11-5, 6-2 WHAC) used four first half runs of 6-0 or better to take control of the game from the outset, cruising in with a win over Lourdes (9-7, 5-3) .
Ziar Anderson scored the game’s first point, but Lourdes rebounded for five straight to take a 5-1 lead with 16:21 to play. The margin was their largest lead of the game, and it was short lived. Over the next 1:33 of play, UNOH scored six straight to take a 7-5 lead, and after consecutive buckets from Zach Steinmetz gave the Grey Wolves the edge back at 9-7, junior point guard Josh Scott converted a traditional 3-point play that helped the Racers take over. The Racers outscored Lourdes 29-8 over the final 12:34 of the half, using a pair of 8-0 runs and a 13-0 stretch to take a commanding 36-17 halftime lead.
Lourdes came out of the locker room in the second half and began to chip away at the margin, opening the period on a 10-2 run, but the Racers recovered. The Grey Wolves never got any closer than 11 points in the period, and UNOH put an exclamation point on the game with an 8-1 run that pushed their lead back to 21 with 10:39 to go, as UNOH coasted in with a 63-50 win.
Josh Scott and Ed Jenkins were the only two Racers to score in double-figures, netting 14 and 11 points respectively. Scott added five assists.
The Racers will return home at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, playing host to Marygrove.
Rose-Hulman 62, Bluffton 53
BLUFFTON — Bluffton fell to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the HCAC while the Engineers improved to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Delphos Jefferson grad Ryan Ebbeskotte had 14 points, two rebounds and three assists for Bluffton. Teammate Austin also had 14 points. The Beavers’ Thayne Recker finished with six rebounds.
The Beavers take the court next against Heartland Conference foe Mount St. Joseph at home. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Sommer Center on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Bluffton will look to get back to its winning ways with the student section fired up following Christmas break.
Trine 70, ONU 58
ANGOLA, Ind. — Ohio Northern suffered through two long scoring droughts and dropped a decision at Trine’s Hershey Hall.
The Polar Bears fell to 5-6 overall, while the Thunder improved to 7-4.
Sophomore Devon Allen led Ohio Northern with 11 points, senior Isaiah Roux added 10 points and sophomore Joey Hurless and senior Lucas Pennington added nine points each.
The Polar Bears will return to action at 4 p.m. Tuesday for a home contest against Rochester (N.Y.) at the ONU Sports Center.
Wrestling
4 from ONU win titles
WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Four Ohio Northern wrestlers won individual titles, and the Polar Bears won the team crown at the Waynesburg (Pa.) Invitational on Saturday at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.
ONU finished first out of eight teams with 188.5 points. Waynesburg (Pa.) was second with 180.5 points, Alderson Broaddus (W.Va.) was third with 103.5 points and Johns Hopkins (Md.) was fourth with 79 points.
The Polar Bears had wrestlers in the finals in seven of the 10 weight classes and got championships from freshman Evan Morgan (149 pounds), sophomore Gennar Feucht (157), junior Colt Lovejoy (165) and senior Cody Lovejoy (heavyweight).
