By Grant Pepper
For the last four years, fans and community members have filled the stands at War Memorial Park on fall Friday nights, eager to watch not only their hometown team, but also one of northwest Ohio’s hidden gems.
As the air got cool and the leaves turned red, they gathered to watch one of the state’s most entertaining offenses -- one that passed the ball on nearly every down. They gathered to watch a team that consistently fought for Northwest Conference championships. And in large part, they gathered to watch the six-foot-nothing, gunslinging quarterback that led the way.
Ohio Northern pulled away in the final 10 minutes to post an 81-60 victory over Capital in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday evening at the ONU Sports Center.
The third-seeded Polar Bears (18-8 overall) advance to Thursday's semifinals and will play at No. 24-ranked Marietta, while the sixth-seeded Crusaders end their season at 11-13.
ONU senior Lindsey Black (Urbana/Graham) scored a career-high 17 points to lead No. 24-ranked Ohio Northern to a 76-60 victory over Wilmington in the Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at the ONU Sports Center.
The top-seeded Polar Bears (22-4) advance to Thursday's semifinals and will host either fourth-seeded Otterbein or fifth-seeded Baldwin Wallace on Thursday evening.
The eighth-seeded Quakers end their season with an 11-15 record.
ONU sophomore Cameron Marous (Brecksville) scored with 44 seconds left in overtime to lift the Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team to a 10-9 victory over Kenyon on Tuesday at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (2-0 overall) rallied from a 5-2 third period deficit to sneak past the Lords (1-1).
A week after setting the all-time Div. III 800-meter run record at the GVSU Big Meet, senior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) has been named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Div. III Women's National Track Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week for her efforts at the Sliverston Invitational on Friday evening.
Richards was the first collegiate athlete across the finish line in the 1-mile run on Friday evening and finished second overall in the event.
