Men's Basketball edged 53-51 by No. 20 Otterbein in semifinals of OAC Tournament on last second basket

Men's Basketball edged 53-51 by No. 20 Otterbein in semifinals of OAC Tournament on last second basket
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February 26, 2026

OTTERBEIN — No. 20 Otterbein scored on a putback with 1.5 seconds left to post a 53-51 victory over Ohio Northern in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday. 

  • Records: Ohio Northern (18-9 Overall), #20 Otterbein (22-4 Overall).
  • Venue: Rike Center — Westerville, Ohio.

The Game

  • Junior Theo Maag (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) led the Polar Bears in scoring with 18 points. 
  • Sophomore Aiden Harris (Pandora Gilboa) pitched in 12 points and a team-best six rebounds. 
  • Senior Will Miller (Ottoville) added nine points and three steals. 
  • Otterbein led 51-45 with 3:47 left, but Harris would score six consecutive points to tie the game at 51-all with 35 seconds remaining.
  • The Cardinals missed a 3-pointer with four seconds to go, but Reece Huber collected the rebound and scored with 1.5 seconds left to give OU a 53-51 advantage. 
  • Northern raced to a 25-9 lead with 8:20 left in the first half and eventually led 33-23 at intermission.
  • Otterbein out-scored ONU 14-4 in the first 7:17 of the second half to tie the game at 37-all.
  • Ohio Northern was 22-of-55 from the floor for 40.0 percent and made 3-of-15 three-pointers for 20.0 percent, while Otterbein finished 17-of-48 from the field for 35.4 percent and 9-of-30 from three-point range for 30.0 percent. 
  • ONU made 4-of-4 free throws for 1.000 percent and OU was 10-of-14 from the foul line for 71.4 percent.
  • The Cardinals outrebounded the Polar Bears 36-29.

Notables

  • Ohio Northern now leads the all-time series 78-64 over Otterbein.
  • ONU was the No. 3 seed, while OU was the No. 2 seed. 
  • Miller is now 19th all-time in Northern with 1,308 points in 103 career games. Miller is also ranked 7th in the conference inscoring at 15.6 ppg. 
  • Miller is now in the 8th in ONU history with 165 steals.
  • Ohio Northern wraps up its 115th season of varsity men's basketball and has a record of 1403-1098, a winning percentage of .561.
  • Head coach Jon Tropf is in his first season at Ohio Northern with a 18-9 record.

Up Next

  • Season complete.