Men's Basketball mounts furious second half rally, falls just short in season-opening 67-61 loss at Kalamazoo (Mich.)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Ohio Northern rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to within two points, but eventually the rally fell just short in a 67-61 season-opening loss at Kalamazoo (Mich.) on Saturday at the Anderson Athletic Center.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (0-1 overall), Kalamazoo (1-1 overall)
• Venue: Anderson Athletic Center - Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Game

• Freshman Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Columbus/Westerville South) scored a team-high 14 points off the bench for ONU.
• Freshman Carter Reese (Westerville/North) added 14 points off the bench.
• Sophomore Will Miller (Ottoville) scored 11 points.
• Northern fell behind 10-0 and 17-1 and trailed 36-16 at halftime.
• The Polar Bears roared back in the second half and a pair of free throws junior Blake Michael (Fremont/St. Joseph Central Catholic) with 25 seconds left in the game got ONU within 63-61.
• But the Hornets woiuld go 4-for-4 from the foul line int he final 23 seconds to hang on for the victory.
• Ty Horky scored a game-high 24 points to lead KC.
• Ohio Northern made 23-of-66 field goal attempts for 34.8 percent, including an 8-of-34 mark from 3-point range.
• Kalamazoo was 19-of-49 shooting for 38.8 percent and made 9-of-25 three-pointers for 36.0 percent.
• The Hornets out-rebounded the Polar Bears 49-35.

Notables

• Ohio Northern has begun its 113th season of varsity men's basketball.
• The Polar Bears are 1358-1066 all-time, a winning percentage of .560.
• ONU is now 5-1 in its last six season openers.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his second season at Ohio Northern with a 10-16 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will open the home portion of their 2023-24 schedule on Wednesday at home with Anderson (Ind.) at 5 pm in the opening game of a men's/women's double header.