Otterbein’s men’s basketball team matched up against Milwaukee School of Engineering in the nightcap of day one of the Smokey Ballenger Tournament.
The first half of play was all Otterbein, as they were red hot from the field shooting 50%.
Junior Jon Juergens came off the bench to spark the offense, tallying a team-high 10 points at halftime, on 4 of 6 shooting from the field.
On the other hand, Milwaukee School of Engineering struggled from the get-go, as Otterbein’s defensive pressure held them to just 25% shooting from the field.
Perhaps the only bright spot in terms of scoring for the Raiders was their foul shooting, in which they connected on all 9 attempts in the first half.
Conversely, the Cardinals made 6 of 7 from the charity stripe in the first half.
At one point in the first half, Otterbein led by 18 points, while eventually carrying a 10 point lead into halftime.
As the second half opened play both teams struggled to get much going on offense, but eventually they both got into rhythm.
Sophomore Andy Yazrombek was nearly unstoppable with his penetration into the lane, as he blew by multiple Raiders defenders in the second half, setting up baskets for himself and his teammates.
However, freshman Austin Stueck of Milwaukee School of Engineering, heated up connecting on 4 of 9 shot attempts in the second half alone.
Yazrombek continued his dominance in the paint, as he scored 12 of his team-high 19 points after the first half.
Late in the second half, the Raiders made a few free throws and clutch shots down the stretch, leading to a wild end to the half.
With the game tied 64 and thirty seconds left in regulation, Yazrombek drove the lane and connected on an off balanced shot to give Otterbein the lead with eleven seconds remaining.
But racing down the court were the Raiders, as junior John Cording connected on a wild shot of his own to tie the game once again, this time with just four seconds remaining in regulation.
A missed shot by the Cards at the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Cardinals continued to thrive with the ball in Yazrombek’s hands, as he either assisted or scored on 3 of their 6 field goal attempts.
As the overtime period came to a close, junior CJ Julian drew a block on a Raiders defender, sending him to the line for two foul shots with his team trailing by one point.
Julian proceeded to miss both free throws, as the Cards had to foul right away, but to no avail as a full court pass was intercepted at the end of overtime.
Milwaukee School of Engineering was in turn able to battle back and escape with a 79-77 victory over Otterbein.
Leading the way for Otterbein was Yazrombek who finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Junior Max Van Meter followed with 13 points and 2 rebounds, while Juergens ended up recording 12 points and senior Zach Bakenhaster chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Julian chipped in 5 points to go along with a career-high 12 rebounds.
The most daunting statistic for the Cards was their foul shooting in the second half and overtime period, as they went 4 of 13 finishing the game at 50% from the foul line (Raiders went 9 of 14 in that same span).
With the loss, Otterbein falls to 5-5 overall, while Milwaukee School of Engineering improves to 6-4 overall on the season.
Next on the schedule for the Cards is a consolation game matchup in day two of the Smokey Ballenger Tournament versus Penn State University-Behrend on December 29 at 3pm.
