Men's Basketball Suffers Road Defeat to UNOH

(Lima, OH)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team was on the road Wednesday evening, and suffered a road defeat to the Northwestern Ohio Racers 87-66 in Lima.

UNOH would build a 5-0 lead to start the game before Nick Ellis converted a jumper to get the Cougars on the board.  Ellis would later get fouled, allowing him to make a pair of free throws, cutting the deficit to 5-4, still in the early moments of the game.  Still trailing by one, Zane Kemp would draw a foul, making both free throws, and giving Cleary a 13-12 lead.  It would be their only lead of the game.  On UNOH's next possession they would connect from behind the arc to take back the lead. With eight minutes remaining in the half, UNOH would extend their lead to 26-17, and by the seven minute mark, the deficit would reach double figures.  A jumper by Bennie Crenshaw Jr. as time expired would send the teams into the half with the score 43-30 in favor of the Racers.

Cleary would chip away at the Racer lead in the second half, and just five minutes into the half, Nick Ellis would make a layup to make it a 47-40 game.  After UNOH scored on the other end, Brian Everhart would make a three to shrink the deficit to six points, making the score 49-43.  The Racers answered with a three of their own on their next possession, forcing the Cougars to have to build back into the game once again.  After falling behind twelve points with 8:30 to play, Tim Kewley would score on a dunk, and Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would make a jumper from the elbow to get the Cougars back within eight points.  That would be as close as the Cougars would get, however, as the Racers would finish the game on a run, extending their lead, and handing Cleary a 87-66 defeat.

Nick Ellis would have a team high 17 points to go with 7 rebounds to lead the Cleary offense.  Bennie Crenshaw Jr. was the only other Cougar to reach double digits, as he scored 11 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 5 assists.

The loss drops Cleary's record to 5-9 overall, 4-5 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will next be in action on Saturday, January 10, when they hit the road to take on the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils.  The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM.