WILMINGTON, Ohio - A 21-6 run to open the second half propelled the Wilmington College men's basketball team to an 82-60 blowout victory over Otterbein University in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action from Hermann Court on Wednesday.
The win was the Fightin' Quakers' 15th consecutive triumph over the Cardinals and improves Wilmington's record to 13-6 overall and 9-4 in the OAC.
Both teams struggled offensively from the tip as the score was just 6-6 six minutes into the game. Wilmington built a 23-16 lead at the 7:33 mark thanks to one of Andrew Russell's four first-half triples, but Otterbein got back within a basket on three free throws from Kobe Long-Weber with a little over three minutes to play in the half. The Quakers closed out the half on a 9-2 run fueled by seven points from Russell to lead 37-27 at the break.
Otterbein, which hadn't won at Fred Raizk Arena since the 2010-11 season, scored the first five points of the second half to get within five points at 37-32. What followed was one of Wilmington's best defensive stretches of its season as the Quakers held Otterbein to a single field goal and three points over 11 minutes while scoring 31 points of their own. A Maurice Beavers basket ended the 31-3 run with the hosts up 58-35. Wilmington wasn't done, however, as the Quakers would lead by as many as 32 points (70-38) and coast to a victory.
"I thought we made Otterbein play the way we wanted them to tonight," Head Men's Basketball Coach K.C. Hunt said. "We did a great job guarding the basket and closing out on jump shots."
Wilmington shot better 43 percent from the field and three-point range, making 29 and 12 field goals respectively. Otterbein was held to 22-of-57 (38.6 percent) from the field and 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from three-point range. The Quakers won the rebounding battle 39-34 as well as forcing the Cardinals into 20 turnovers.
Individually, Russell led all scorers with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from distance along with grabbing five rebounds and tying his career high with four assists. Kevin Lewis added 20 points while Will Patrick had 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
"Our depth continued to show tonight," Hunt said. "Andrew [Russell] and Will [Patrick], along with hitting shots on the offensive end, got nearly every loose ball defensively."
Beavers led Otterbein with 12 points off the bench in defeat. Jay Joseph and Andrew Bradley also scored in double figures for the Cardinals.
Wilmington travels to Baldwin Wallace University for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.
