Men's Basketball Winning Streak Ends at 9 Games

CANAL WINCHESTER, OH - The Trailblazers had their nine game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday night as a late run by Ohio Christian came up short in a 95-84 loss to their crosstown rivals.

OCU was all business early on as the Blazers took a 12-4 lead to open the game.  The host Warriors regrouped after a timeout and rallied to take a 42-41 lead heading into halftime.

The Trailblazers came out sluggish and trailed by double digits just minutes into the second half.  The Blazers refocused and put together a 10-4 run to get back to within three points with 15 minutes remaining.  The Warriors used a strong transition game to make a run of their own and pushed the lead to 14 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.

Ohio Christian put together one last run with a series of consecutive baskets, capped off by a James Nelson dunk, to get back to within six points at 86-80.  The host Warriors would answer with a pair of free throws to push their lead back to 8 points.  OCU scored again off a tip-in by Evan Mills but was unable to get a defensive stop at crunch time.  The host Warriors came away with the 95-84 victory to even the season series at 1-1.

OCU was led by Evan Mills who scored a team high 17 points while grabbing 7 rebounds.  Wesley Russell added 16 points and 6 boards.  Jimmy Horton Jr. came off the bench to score 11 points.  James Nelson added 8 points for OCU.  

VCC was led by Andrew Douby who scored a game high 27 points.

Ohio Christian will get back to NCCAA Mid-East Region play this weekend as they travel to face Welch College on Friday night and Boyce College on Saturday afternoon.  OCU is currently 4-0 in the Mid-East Region and ranked #1 in the NCCAA National Poll.