Cunningham Jr., Michael lead Men's Basketball to 66-50 win over Olivet (Mich.) in Cruzin' Classic

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team closed out its two-game set in the 2023 Cruzin' Classic with a 66-50 win over Olivet (Mich.) at Barry University on Thursday.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (5-6 overall), Olivet (2-7 overall)
• Venue: Health & Sports Center - Miami Shores, Fla.

The Game

• Freshman Jadi Cunningham Jr. (Columbus/Westerville South) stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
• Junior Blake Michael (Fremont/St. Joseph Central Catholic) added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
• Sophomore Mason Studer (Galion/Colonel Crawford) chipped in nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
• Ryan Bart and Conner Schipper led Olivet with 12 points each.
• Olivet led 29-21 with 1:40 left in the first half, but ONU closed the period on an 8-0 run to send the game into halftime tied at 29-all.
• Michael sparked that run with six points, capping the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.
• Cunningham Jr. opened the second-half scoring with a 2-point jumper to make it a 10-0 run and give ONU a 31-29 edge.
• With the score tied at 31-all, the Polar Bears put together a 9-1 run capped by a 3-pointer from Studer for a 40-32 lead with 15:12 left.
• Northern took a 14-point edge, 57-43, on a 2-point jumper from freshman Cayden Jacoby (Pettisville) with 5:14 remaining en route to the 18-point victory.
• Ohio Northern made 23-of-57 field goal attempts for 40.4%, including a 6-of-19 mark from 3-point range for 31.6%.
• Olivet was 17-of-53 shooting for 32.1% and made 5-of-22 3-pointers for 22.7%.
• ONU was 14-of-22 from the foul line for 68.2%, and Olivet was 11-of-12 for 91.7%.
• Ohio Northern out-rebounded Olivet by a 45-32 margin.
• ONU scored 18 points off of 19 Olivet turnovers and finished with a 32-22 edge in points in the paint.

Notables

• The Polar Bears finished 2-0 in the 2023 Cruzin' Classic after also getting an 83-51 win over Ursinus (Pa.) on Wednesday.
• Michael's 17 points marked a career high, topping his previous best of 13 from Wednesday's game.
• His 10 rebounds was also a career-high.
• This was Cunningham Jr.'s eighth double-figure scoring game of the season.
• The Polar Bears wrap up their non-conference schedule with a 5-2 record.
• Ohio Northern now leads the all-time series with Olivet by an 11-2 margin.
• Ohio Northern is playing its 113th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1363-1071, a winning percentage of .560.
• Head coach Neal Young is in his second season at Ohio Northern with a 15-21 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to action on Jan. 3 to resume Ohio Athletic Conference play hosting Otterbein at 7 p.m.