BEREA, OHIO — The Otterbein College Cardinals defeated the 12th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College, 65-63, in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener at the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea. The Cardinals had a 13-point second half lead but B-W had a chance to win it at the buzzer.
With Otterbein clinging to a 65-63 lead, B-W freshman guard Tyler Sekerak missed a desperation three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer.
With its victory, Otterbein improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the OAC. With its loss, B-W fell to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the OAC. This game was also a battle between the teams picked first (B-W) and second (Otterbein) in the OAC Coaches preseason poll.
In the first half, Otterbein led by as many as 13 points at 31-18 with 5:51 left before halftime when freshman guard Ross Banaszak made a jump shot. The Cardinals also led at the intermission, 34-29. In the second half, Otterbein extended its lead to as many as 13 points at 47-34 with 15:28 left in the game when sophomore guard DeQuan Owens canned a three-pointer. Then B-W went on a 28-19 run to close to within two points at 65-63 with 12.28 seconds left when sophomore forward Tori Davis made one of two foul shots. Then Otterbein sophomore transfer guard Mark Church missed a free vthrow, giving B-W its shot to tie or win.
Otterbein placed four players in double figures withsophomore guard Mark Church and senior forward Scott Hadley leading the way with 11 points each. Sophomore guard DeQuan Owens and junior center Tyler Ousley each had 10 points.
Sophomore forward Tori Davis led B-W led B-W with a game-high 26 points. In addition, senior forward Thad Davis had 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds and senior point guard Tom Harrington had 10 points and six assists. With his 14 points and 16 rebounds today, Thad Davis now has 1,463 career points and 730 career rebounds and is now 10th on the all-time Yellow Jacket scoring list and seventh in rebounding.
B-W will back in action on Saturday, December 11, when it travels to New Concord, Ohio to play OAC-rival Muskingum College at 3:00 p.m.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu.
Game Notes vs. Otterbein
The BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE YELLOW JACKET men's basketball team will host Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein College on Saturday, December 4, 2004 at the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, Ohio at 3:00 p.m. It is the OAC opener for each school.
RADIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, broadcasts all home and away Yellow Jacket games both live and over the College internet Web site. The pregame show on radio starts 15 minutes prior to game time. For more information regarding B-W basketball broadcasts, please visit the B-W internet Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics.
BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE
LOCATION : Berea, Ohio
NICKNAME: Yellow Jackets
CONFERENCE: Ohio Athletic
2004-2005 RECORD: 5-0
OAC RECORD: 0-0
LAST GAME: Beat Oberlin, 97-62, on 12/1/2004 in Berea
HEAD COACH: Steve Bankson
B-W RECORD: 350-290
YEAR AT B-W: 26th
CAREER RECORD: 40 yrs./ 631-404
LAST MEETING: OC won, 86-76, in Westerville
SERIES STREAK: Otterbein, two straight
SERIES RECORD: OC leads, 47-35
NEXT GAME: December 11: at Muskingum in New Concord, Ohio at 3:00 p.m.
OTTERBEIN COLLEGE
LOCATION: Westerville, Ohio
NICKNAME: Cardinals
CONFERENCE: Ohio Ahletic
2004-2005 RECORD: 3-1
OAC RECORD: 0-0
LAST GAME: Beat Emory & Henry (Va.), 72-59, on 11/28/2004.
HEAD COACH: Dick Reynolds
OC RECORD: 569-308
YEAR AT OC : 33rd
CAREER RECORD: 569-308
The Pregame Notes -- The 12th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jacket men's basketball team will seek to win its sixth straight game to open the 2004-2005 season when it hosts Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein College in Berea in the 2004-2005 OAC opener for each school at the Ursprung Gymnasium. This game also pits the teams picked first and second in the OAC Coaches preseason poll.
The Yellow Jackets are 5-0 overall and have opened the season by defeating the University of Mary Washington (64-57) and Gettysburg, Pa.. College (59-57) at the Gettysburg Tournament on November 19-20, Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University (94-91) in Berea on Nov. 23, Thiel College (86-82) in Greenville, Pennsylvania on Nov. 27, and Oberlin College (97-62) on Wednesday, December 1, in its first four games. B-W is also tabbed to win the 2005 Ohio Athletic Conference title by a vote of its coaches during the preseason.
Otterbein enters today’s game with a 3-1 overall record. It split a pair of games at the season-opening Mt. St. Joseph Tournament and then won a tourney title last weekend at the Emory & Henry (Va.) Tournament. In its last game, the Cardinals defeated Emory & Henry, 72-59, in the championship game. Otterbein was also tabbed second inthe OAC Coaches preseason poll.
The Baldwin-Wallace Versus Otterbein College Series-- This is the 83rd all-time meeting between Baldwin-Wallace College and Otterbein College in men’s basketball. Otterbein leads the series between the two schools, 47-35, including an 86-76 victory last year in Westerville on the final day of the regular season (February 21, 2004). See more on this game on page 2. The last B-W win came on February 22, 2003 when the Jackets beat the Cardinals, 76-72, in Berea.
The National Polls -- Baldwin-Wallace College are ranked 12th nationally in this week’s Division III national poll by the D3hoops.com Internet Web site. The Yellow Jackets were ranked 16th in the preseason poll and 13th last week. B-W was also ranked in the preseason by The Sporting News and the DIIINews magazine poll.
The Baldwin-Wallace College Starters -- Look for veteran Yellow Jackets Head Coach Steve Bankson to start 6’4” senior two-time All-OAC forward Thad Davis (Elyria/ Open Door Christian School), his brother, 6’4” sophomore All-OAC forward Tori Davis (Elyria/ Open Door Christian School) and 6’4” sophomore swingman Matt Marks (Boardman) at the post positions. At the point guard will be 5’11” senior Academic All-OAC player Tom Harrington (North Royalton/ Parma Heights Holy Name) and at the wing will be 6’0” junior All-OAC player Keith Aufmuth (Brooklyn). Thad Davis tops the team in scoring with 21.2 points per game and grabs s with 11.8 rebounds per game and is canning 60.7 percent of his field goals (37-of-61). Tori Davis is second in scoring at 17.4 ppg., second with 8.2 rpg., 13 blocked shots and five steals, and is shooting 66.0 percent from the floor (33-of-50) and 65.6% from the foul line (21-of-32). Tom Harrington is third in scoring at 8.8 ppg. ppg., first with 33 assists and eight three-pointers and has committed just eight turnovers in 171 minutes of action. Keith Aufmuth is scoring 8.8 ppg. and is second with 15 assists and six treys.
Off the bench, look for Bankson to play 6'2" sophomore guard Nick Meyer (Mentor), 6’4” senior forward Jeremy Coffey (Hudson/ Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), 6’0” freshman guard Tyler Sekerak (Corry, Pa./ Corry), 6’2” junior forward Dan Gundert (Wellington), 6’5” junior forward Charod Hale (Akron/Kenmore), and 5’11” freshman guard Brendan Schuler (Fairview Park/Fairview). Marks and Meyer are each averaging 8.0ppg. and 5.0ppg. respectively. Sekerak is scoring 2.4 ppg. and is second with eight steals.
Otterbein Probable Starters -- Look for veteran Head Coach Dick Reynolds to start 6’0” senior Tony Borghese at the point guard position. At the wings, look for 6’1” sophomore DeQuan Owens and either 6’5” senior Mo Ross or 6’2” transfer Mark Church will start. On the inside, 6’5” senior Scott Hadley and 6’7” junior Tyler Ousley will start. Hadley tops the Cardinals in scoring at 15.3 ppg. and is second with 6.3 rpg. He has canned 18-of-33 field goal attempts (.545). Church, despoite missing both games last weekend due to a “coaches decision” is second in scoring at 12.5 ppg. Owens is third in scoring at 12.3 ppg. and has six steals and five three-pointers. Ross is scoring 11.5 ppg. and tops the team with seven three-pointers. Ousley is scoring 7.0 ppg. and tops the Cardinals with 8.5 rpg. and has canned 11-of-17 shots so far (64.7 percent). Despite just scoring 5.0 ppg. so far, Borghese tops Otterbein with 17 assists. Off the bench, look for 6’0” freshman guard Ross Banaszak (5.8 ppg. and 2.3 rpg.), 6’5” senior forward Neil Hohman (5.3 ppg. and 3.8 rpg.) and 6;1” freshman guard Eric Murphy (1.5 ppg.) all to see quality minutes. In addition, 6’2” freshman guard Scott Cores (5.0 ppg.), 6’2” junior forward Kevin King (8.0 ppg. and 5.3 rpg.) and 6’8” sophomore center Greg Cooper (0.7 ppg.) each have played in three of four games to date.
THE LAST MEETING BETWEEN B-W AND OTTERBEIN: Otterbein -- 86, Baldwin-Wallace -- 76 in Westerville, Ohio on February 21, 2004 -- The last time that the Yellow Jackets and Cardinals met, on February 21, in Westerville, Otterbein won, 86-76, on the final day of the regular season before 1,431fans at The Rike Center. Despite the loss, senior forward Thad Davis led B-W with 23 points and five rebounds. Sophomore wing Keith Aufmuth chipped in with 22 points and sophomore wing player Matt Marks added 13. Leading the way for Otterbein was point guard Tony Borghese with a game-high 24 points and four assists. Current sophomore guard DeQuan Owens chipped in with 16 points and Scott Hadley and Neil Hohman led the way on the inside with 11 points and nine rebounds and 10 points and six rebounds, respectively.
In B-W's Last Game on December 1, 2004 versus Oberlin in Berea: Baldwin-Wallace --97, Oberlin --62 -- The Yellow Jackets won their fifth straight game as they beat nonleague foe Oberlin College, 97-62, on Wednesday, December 1, in Berea to improve to 5-0 overall. Leading the Yellow Jackets were sophomore forward Tori Davis with team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Also in double figures were senior forward Thad Davis with 15 points and 14 rebounds and sophomore forward Matt Marks with 14 points.
In Otterbein's Last Game on Nov. 28 at Emory & Henry (Va.) Tournament: Otterbein -- 72, Emory & Henry (Va.) -- 59 in Emory, Virginia -- The Otterbein Cardinals captured the tournament championship game of the Emory & Henry (Va.) Tournament by beating the host school, 72-59, to improve to 3-1 overall. The Cardinals were led by senior forward Scott Hadley’s 16 points and seven rebounds. In addition, sophomore guard DeQuan Owens scored 14 points and senior forward Neil Hohman came off the bench to score 10 points and grab eight rebounds.
Yellow Jacket Chatter
Davis Continues to Climb on the Charts -- Senior two-time Academic All-OAC forward Thad Davis enters tonight’s game with Oberlin with 1,347 career points and 711 career rebounds and stands 10th on the all-time scoring list and eighth on the all-time rebounding list.
Davis is This Week’s OAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week -- Thad Davis was selected as the OAC Player of the Week this week when he scored 66 points, grabbed 28 rebounds and blocked 12 shots in wins against Cleveland cross-town rival Case, 94-91, and at Thiel, Pa., 86-82. Thad Davis had a career-high 37 points against Thiel College on Saturday and scored a previous season-high 29 points against Case Western Reserve on Tuesday.
B-W Picked First in the OAC -- The Yellow Jackets open 2004-2005 Ohio Athletic Conference play next Saturday, December 4 when they play host to the Otterbein College Cardinals at 3:00 p.m. in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium. B-W is tabbed to finish first in the OAC in the OAC Preseason Coaches poll which was conducted by conference call on November 3. B-W received eight of nine first place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team so only nine first place votes were possible). Otterbein was picked to finish second.
Three Return as All-OAC Players and One as an Academic All-OAC selection -- Senior forward Thad Davis returns as a first-team All-Ohio Athletic Conference player from a year ago. He was also a second-team All-Great Lakes Region pick by the D3hoops.com Web Site. Joining Thad Davis on the 2003-2004 All-OAC team were sophomore forward Tori Davis as a second-team pick and junior guard Keith Aufmuth as an honorable mention choice. In addition, senior point guard Tom Harrington was an Academic All-OAC selection.
Bankson is the Winningest B-W Basketball Coach -- With his 350 victories at Baldwin-Wallace, Yellow Jacket Head Coach Steve Bankson is the winningest coach in school history. He is 350-290 in 26 years at B-W. Bankson has a career mark of 631-404 in 40 years overall, including a 232-90 mark in 12 seasionbs at Lorain (County) Community College and a 49-25 marks in three years at the high school level.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, Please visit the Baldwin-Wallace Athletics website at www.bw.edu/athletics for up to date results and statistics. For further inquiries, please contact B-W SID Kevin Ruple by phone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. For more Yellow Jacket men's basketball information, please contact Head Coach Steve Bankson by phone at (440) 826-2039, by FAX at (440) 826-2192 or via e-mail at sbankson@bw.edu.
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