Ohio Wesleyan 70, Hanover 66

Dec. 28, 2007

Senior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North) hit a pair of 3-pointers and senior guard Casey Teeters (Westerville/Columbus St. Charles) added another during an 11-2 run that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and senior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) provided timely scoring down the stretch as the Bishops held off a spirited Hanover rally to take a win in the first round of the Smokey Ballenger Classic, hosted by Otterbein College on Friday in Westerville.

Ohio Wesleyan will face Albion, a 70-66 winner over host Otterbein in Friday's opener, in the tournament championship game at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

The Bishops opened the evening's scoring with a 3-pointer by Teeters, but the Panthers outscored the Bishops, 12-4, with Brock Dawson sinking a 3-pointer and Jake Inman converting a 3-point play, to take a 12-7 lead with 16:36 left in the first half.

Trailing, 17-11, the Bishops rallied with a basket by senior post Jesse Jean (Alexandria, Va./Hyde (Conn.) School), a steal and lay-in by junior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) and a putback by Jean to tie the game at 17-17, and after tying the game at 25-25 on a jumper by senior post Ryan Rozak (Fairview Park/Fairview), Cafarella and Teeters combined for the 3 trifectas and a 34-27 Bishop lead.

Ohio Wesleyan still led, 37-30, before Hanover's Clint Parker beat the first-half buzzer with a lay-in for a 37-32 margin at the intermission.

The Bishops opened the second half with another Teeters 3-pointer, and when Jean followed with a basket, the Ohio Wesleyan lead was in double figures less than a minute into the second period.

Ohio Wesleyan's lead was at 8 points when sophomore guard Robby Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) buried a 3-pointer to make it 53-45 at the midway point of the second half, but Hanover rallied, holding the Bishops scoreless for more than 4 minutes while closing to within 53-52 on a basket and a 3-point play by Parker and a pair of free throws by Dan O'Leary.

Junior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) ended the Bishop drought by converting a 3-point play to extend the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 56-52, and that would be the pattern for the remainder of the game, with Hanover closing to within a single marker on 4 other occasions only to see the Bishops counter each time.

After Hanover's Marc O'Leary hit a 3-pointer to bring the Panthers within 56-55, Jean scored on a putback to give Ohio Wesleyan a 3-point lead. Parker and Holliday traded baskets to keep the margin at 3 points, and after Robby Brown hit a pair of free throws for Hanover, it was Rudegeair with a bucket to make it a 62-59 game.

Rudegeair then added a key basket on a putback and hit a pair of free throws to stretch the Bishop lead to 66-61 with :45 left.

Hanover made one more charge, sandwiching a Marc O'Leary 3-pointer and a Brown lay-in around a Holliday free throw to come within 67-66 with :18 left.

Cafarella was fouled in the backcourt and hit the second free throw to give the Bishops a 68-66 lead, and on Hanover's ensuing possession, Parker drove into the lane but saw his potential game-tying jumper fall off the rim. Jean snared the rebound, was fouled and drained both free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan a 70-66 edge with :07 to go.

Rudegeair scored 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead Ohio Wesleyan. Cafarella shared the Bishop lead with 15 points, while Holliday and Jean finished with 13 points apiece. Teeters led the Bishops with 4 assists.

Brown led Hanover with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Parker finished with 13 points, Mitchell Meyer scored 12 points and Dawson added 10 points.

Box Score