Ohio Wesleyan 67, Manchester 60

Dec. 29, 2008

Senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) closed out the first half with 5 straight points to put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and the Bishops held Manchester at arm's length before pulling away late in the second half for a win in the first round of the Bill Sudeck Holiday Tournament, hosted by Case Western Reserve University on Monday in Cleveland.

In Monday's second game, Case Reserve defeated Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 97-71. Ohio Wesleyan will face Case Reserve in the tournament championship game at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, to be preceded by the consolation game between Manchster and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at 2 p.m.

Manchester led throughout the first half of the opening period, with the Bishops taking their first lead when sophomore wing Dillon McBride (Medina) knocked down a 3-pointer for an 18-16 Ohio Wesleyan lead with 8:55 to go.

The Spartans countered by scoring the next 8 points, with Mitch Schaefer hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to restore their 6-point advantage. Manchester still led, 29-27, after a Jeff Grabowski basket with just under 2 minutes left in the period.

Miller answered with a 3-pointer on Ohio Wesleyan's next possession, and later in the half, Miller stole the ball and scored to give the Bishops a 32-29 lead at the break.

Manchester opened the second half with a lay-in by Nathan Ferch to close the gap to 32-31, but Ohio Wesleyan would not surrender the lead. The Bishops gradually built a 6-point margin, taking a 42-36 lead on a bucket by freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls).

The Spartans would again rally to within a single point, this time when Jairus Burt's jumper made it a 51-50 game with 6:42 to play, but again Ohio Wesleyan had an answer, holding the Spartans to a single basket during a stretch of nearly 6 minutes.

The Bishops pulled away with a 3-point play from sophomore guard Mike Schwartz (Upper Arlington) and another 3-pointer from McBride before Pellerite added a lay-in and junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) sank a pair of free throws to extend the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 61-52 with 1:04 left in the game.

Manchester closed to within 6 points on Tyler Delauder's jumper, but Miller sealed the verdict with 4 straight free throws.

Miller led the Bishops with 15 points, while McBride finished with 14 points and junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia) added 11 points. Senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) had a team-high 7 rebounds.

Mitch Schaefer led the Spartans with 12 points.

Box Score