BLUFFTON - Host Bluffton jumped to an early lead and held off scrappy rival Ada to post a 57-45 Northwest Conference boys basketball victory Friday night.
The defeat dropped the Bulldog record to 4-14 overall and 0-6 in the NWC, while the Pirates improved to 9-9 and 4-2 in the NWC with the victory.
Bluffton ran out to an 8-0 lead behind two game-opening trifectas from freshman Luke Denecker, and never trailed.
Ada rallied within 17-15 at the end of the first period, but could never quite overtake the Pirates.
Saturday's Contest: Ohio Northern enters Saturday afternoon's matchup ranked No. 5 in the latest D3Hoops.com poll ... Northern is coming off of an 81-57 victory over Heidelberg on Wednesday evening ... With the victory, the Polar Bears clinched the OAC Regular Season title outright and will receive a double-bye in this years OAC Tournament ... Senior Britt Lauck currently leads the team and ranks fourth in the OAC at 15.1 points per game ... Lauck ranks first on the team and in the OAC in free throw percentage (89.8 percent) and leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with 72 assists ... The senior also ranks second in the OAC, shooting 45.3 percent from the 3-point line ...
The ONU men's basketball team plays at John Carrol on Saturday. ONU enters Saturday’s contest riding a 10-game winning streak and is tied for first place in the OAC with #10-ranked Marietta ... Northern has clinched a top-4 seed and will host a Quarterfinal game in the OAC Tournament on Feb. 21 ... ONU also clinched its second winning season in four years ... ONU posted a 91-78 win over Heidelberg on Wednesday at the ONU Sports Center ... Senior Devon Allen led ONU in scoring with a game-high 21 points ... ... Senior Konnor Baker of Ada added 18 points. Allen leads the team and is 8th in the OAC in scoring at 15.9 ppg ... Baker is second at 13.5 ppg.
Saturday's Preview: The Ohio Northern women's indoor track and field team will look to continue its early success as it is set to compete at the All-Ohio Championships hosted by Otterbein in Westerville ... The meet is comprised of Div. III schools from across Ohio ... Field events and track events are set to begin at 12 p.m. ... The Polar Bears are coming off of a first place finish at the annual Joe Banks Invitational last Saturday ... Northern posted seven first place finishes during the meet ... Junior Emily Richards led the Polar Bears in the meet as she set a new school record and ran the sixth fastest time in Div.
Cort Reynolds' latest Celtics history blog published this week is trending strongly on the NBA websites of SB Nation.
The blog titled: "Celtics vs. Lakers ranks as greatest North American pro sports team rivalry" Subtitle: "Ancient, fierce rivals renew acquaintances with NBA record on line"
