Racers Muscle Past Olivet in Non-Con Bout

LIMA, OH - UNOH men's basketball survived a dogfight against The University of Olivet Tuesday night, 85-80, in a mid-season non-conference showdown.

It was a tight game from start to finish that produced nine ties and 24 lead changes with neither team taking more than a two possession lead at any point. The largest of the night came in the first four minutes with the Racers going up 10-4 but was erased over the next two as the Comets knotted things up at twelve. The next five points went to Olivet for their biggest lead of the night before things tightened back up. The final three points of the half went to the Comets and they held a 41-37 lead at the break.

UNOH put up the first five of the second to take the lead and set up back-and-forth blows before settling back even at 47. After Olivet went up 50-47, they managed to cling to the lead for the next four minutes, their longest stretch of the night, before the Racers earned it back, 56-54, with 12:12 to play. The teams went back and forth trading the lead 13 times in the next 14 possessions before UNOH took it back for the final time at the 5:07 mark. The Comets made a final push to tie things up at 77 with 1:49 on the clock, but the Racers hit their largest run of the night at the right time rattling off six straight to finish off Olivet for good.

Both teams knocked down eleven threes in the game, the most scored and allowed by the Racers this season. UNOH turned 17 offensive rebounds into a season best 26 second chance points shooting 93% from the free throw line and racking up 21 assists, both season highs.

The Racers will get back into conference play with a trip to Ann Arbor to face Concordia on Saturday.