MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

You also have to look at the location of a school too. Westerville a Columbus suburb has a lot larger fan base then say ONU and Ada.

You could also make an argument against the locals up in Ada to the fact that there really isn't a whole lot else to do up there.  Whereas, there is plenty to keep you occupied other than attending Ott baskeball games in the Columbus area.

As for why Ott feels the need to inflate their attendance figures, it's really anybody's guess.

[onefan]

I think the argument about Otterbein having a larger fan base and therefore larger crowds is only valid to a certain point. If you look at attendance figures over the years, rather valid or not you will find ONU  figures fall in line at about fourth in the conference year in and year out,while being located in the smallest population area in the conference. I think at least one other factor needs to be considered,that being the quality of the  product being put on the floor. A winning program draws crowds,pure and simple. You can see it at almost any level of any sport. It is just human nature to follow a winner. Over the course of a successful season the crowds grow. You see people at games that you never see during an average year. As to Otterbein's attendance figures....I don't care what size their gymnasium is, I don't believe their numbers....I too have attended numerous games there over the years and there is just no way they draw that many more people than the rest of the conference. In fact, I think they could increase their attendance if they would rid themselves of the obnoxious PA guy. His attempts to be "the show" are extremely irritating to me, but I suppose the home crowd loves it.

[David Collinge]

Muskingum is not very near any population centers (somewhat near Zanesville, but...) and they have no tradition of success in hoops, and yet they draw well.  Maybe the "there's nothing else to do there" argument applies to the metropolis of Cambridge/New Concord.

[kiltedbryan]

I might chime into this attendance debate after I go see ONU-Otterbein tomorrow night.  I'll give the best breakdown I can of where ONU (and Otterbein, for that matter) stand at this point in the season.

I'm just another NCAC fan trying to keep intelligent chatter happening here in the mostly desolate OAC room....and I will third sac's sentiments from earlier, this is a conference deserving of a more lively debate by posters from all the various schools of the conference.

[Toph]

For those of you who have cable companies that carry it and don't have a game to go to...tonight's Mount Union at JCU game will be broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio.  7:30 tip.

[onefan]

Can't say as though I agree that the Muskies draw well. Their numbers are up over the last three years, but prior to that they averaged less than 500 fans per home game from 2001 through 2004...My recollection is that they didn't show outstanding numbers prior to 2000 either.

[David Collinge]

Well, I'd never been there before this season (at least, not in 25 years or so), and I'm only going on what I've seen this year and what they reported last year.  I can't imagine why they draw as well as they do, although their games tend to be close (like most OAC games), and they do have three Cambridge High grads on the roster; maybe they have big families. 

[onefan]

Local kids on the roster certainly don't hurt  the gate.

[baldbear]

Final from Westerville:  Polar Bears 66  Otters 63  OT

[wooscotsfan]

All the OAC 1/31 Final Scores:

John Carroll 85  Mount Union 66
Capital 65  Marietta 52
Ohio Northern 66  Otterbein 63 OT
Muskingum 71  Wilmington 67 OT
Baldwin-Wallace 93  Heidelberg 80

So, we have a 3 way tie for first place:

JCU, ONU and CAP are all 9-4
B-W and Heide are both 8-5
OTT and Wilm are both 7-6
Musky is 4-9
MTU is 3-10
Marietta at 1-12

[wooscotsfan]

Milestone from the B-W vs. Heidelberg game tonight:

Baldwin-Wallace's senior Tori Davis became the Yellow Jackets all time leading scorer.  Congrats to Tori who now stands at 2,066 career points!

[onefan]

Attended the ONU/Otterbein game tonight. Northern pulls it out in OT...neither team played well offensively the first half. ONU shot 37%and the Cardinals a dismal 28%. Northern looked out of sync and Otterbein appeared to be uninterested....I have the total in attendance somewhere around the 525 to 600figure. It will be interesting to see what they post. Anything over 650 would be a stretch. Can any of the three teams left with four losses keep from losing one more before the end of the season? WHEW!!! What a season!

[kiltedbryan]

Ohio Northern University 66, Otterbein College 63 (OT)

ONU emerges with a victory...somehow.  Here are my comments from seeing this one tonight at the Rike Center:

I got to see 45 minutes of basketball tonight, but I don't feel like this game really began until the 15:00 minute mark of the second half.  Why?  Both teams struggled mightly on the offensive end in the first half- Otterbein was particuarly poor, shooting only 5-21, 23% for the entire half!  ONU didn't really outshine them much, making 11-30, 36%.  Defensive play was tight and also somewhat scrappy- a lot of little reach-ins and slaps at the basketball by the gaurds led to some poke away steals, for example.  Both sides kept enough pressure on the opposing guards that neither offense seemed to be flowing well.  Passing lanes were well covered and the guards were having trouble finding anyone who was truly open.  Often, guard penetration ended up in desperation "shots"- that is, the type of shot a guard flings up after he realizes that he is flying into the lane out of control and needs to do something with the basketball.

Otterbein's attempted offensive plan for most of the game appeared to be to feed Tyler Ousley in the post and/or allow Ross Banaszak to drive the lane and dish or fling up aforementioned desperation shot.  In the first half, at least, this led to, well, nothing really.  Ousley was 2-8 in the post for the half in part because he never seemed to be willing to pass back out when he received a doubleteam, and Banaszak tried too hard to force shots off his drives as well.

ONU, for their part, was more mobile on offense, with guards running more patterns (including a built-in backdoor cut), but again the tight defensive pressure out front kept their guards from seeing the floor well and making good passes.  ONU was also hampered by foul trouble on Kurtis Brown, starting PG, because of early and often foul trouble (see scrappy guard play, above.  Brown played only 8 total minutes in this game).

Otterbein cut the lead to 5 (25-20) with their only made 3 of the 1st half with under a minute to play, but ONU's Greg Badenhop drilled a 3 with about 2 seconds left to extend the lead back to 8 for halftime(20-28), matching the largest lead by either team in the game.

Finally, though, the game opened up a bit and gained a bit of flow in the second half.  Otterbein made the right adjustments:  instead of Ousley forcing the shot, he passed back out and the Cardinals found the open man and drilled 3 straight 3 pointers to turn an 8 point defict into a 1 point lead.  It stayed neck-and-neck until late, when Otterbein pushed to a 5 point lead with only 4:38 left and then a 4 point lead with 2:21.  They played a much better half than ONU and the contest was rightfully theirs, but they couldn't close the deal.  Otterbein missed shots, allowed an offensive rebound for ONU, and, after Badenhop tied it with 20 ticks left, didn't manage to even get a last-second shot taken because the ball was stripped out as Ousley tried to dribble across the lane.

Both teams traded baskets in the OT until Ousley missed the first half of a one-and-one with under a minute left and ONU rebounded, setting up Badenhop's last second heroics...almost.  Badenhop nearly got caught for a non-penetrating guard 5-second call at the half-court line and was forced to call timeout with 4.2 seconds left.  With the ball near half court, and the players set up near the 3-point line, Badenhop curled around a screen, got the pass, dribbled past one more screen, elevated, and drilled the winner.

Greg Badenhop led all scorers with 24, and was unstoppable in OT, with 9 of ONU's 11 points.
Otterbein's Banaszak was a force in the second half, driving the lane with success several times and 2-2 from beyond the arc for 15 2nd half points.

For more info:
box score
ONU story

[David Collinge]

Great recap. 

[Toph]

For the record, Otterbein has the listed attendance at 2019.