Ohio Wesleyan 64, Earlham 46

Feb. 14, 2009

Freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls) had 6 points and senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) added 4 more as Ohio Wesleyan opened the second half with a 24-5 run and went on to defeat Earlham in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan led, 22-20, at halftime before Pellerite and Earlham's A.J. Sutherlin traded lay-ins to open the second-half scoring.

Holliday followed with a free throw before Pellerite scored on back-to-back fast-break lay-ins, and Holliday tacked on a 3-pointer to give the Bishops a 32-22 lead exactly 3 minutes into the period.

After junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia) added a jumper from the lane, Justin Barger hit a 3-pointer to shave the margin to 34-25 at the 15:03 mark, but Ohio Wesleyan scored the next 12 points, getting a lay-in and a free throw from freshman wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome), a 3-pointer by senior wing Mitch Noggle (Dublin/Coffman), and a lay-in and a free throw from sophomore post Andrew Martin (New Albany) for a 46-25 lead with 9:09 left in regulation time.

Shane Heidt hit a free throw and Kyle Calder followed with a lay-in to end the Earlham drought, which saw the Quakers make 2 of their first 18 shots from the field to open the second half. Scoring by Calder and Barger helped rally the Quakers to within 57-43, but that was as close as the Earlham would come during the remainder of the contest.

The Bishops got off to a fast start, getting a 3-pointer from Holliday and a lay-in by Pellerite to open the game, then adding another pair of Pellerite lay-ins to take a 9-2 lead with 16:32 left in the first half.

Earlham rallied behind a 3-pointer and a free throw from Tristian Gregory, and Sutherlin's lay-in with 12:33 left tied the game at 10-10. The Quakers held the Bishops without a field goal for more than 8 minutes, a spell with ended on a jumper by senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) with 8:04 to go, but Earlham bounced back for a 15-14 lead on Barger's 3-pointer and added a Shane Heidt lay-in to take a 17-14 lead with 5:11 left in the half.

After Holliday and Gregory traded 3-pointers, the Bishops scored the final 5 points of the half on a Miller lay-in and a Pleiman 3-point play for a 22-20 lead with :35 on the clock.

Holliday led the Bishops with 14 points, while Pellerite followed with 12 points. Miller and Pellerite shared the team lead with 8 rebounds apiece, and junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) had a game-high 5 assists.

For Earlham, Calder had a team-high 12 points.

Box Score