Seven Racers Hit Double-Figures as UNOH Downs UMD in WHAC Opening Round

LIMA, OH - For the first time in a decade, UNOH men's basketball earned a post-season victory with an 86-74 win over UM-Dearborn in the WHAC Tournament Opening Round Tuesday night. It is just the third post-season win in program history in it's first appearance since 2022.

UNOH had to overcome a slow start as the Wolverines jumped out to a 14-4 lead to start the game. UM-Dearborn control the pace of play for most of the first half and held an eight point advantage with 2:17 left before halftime. The Racers finally started to build momentum ending the half on a 9-2 run that shaved the lead back to just one, 37-36 heading into the locker room.

That momentum carried into the second half as UNOH continued to outpace the Wolverines 12-3 over the first four minutes to take an eight-point lead at the 16 minute mark. That run made it a 21-5 streak for the Racers over six minutes of game time and they never surrendered the lead again. UM-Dearborn didn't rollover and fought back to make it a 60-58 game with 8:24 to play, but UNOH answered again running out 11-2 to go back up by double-digits with 5:08 on the clock. That would be the final dagger for the Wolverines as they could only get within nine points the rest of the way to advance the Racers into the WHAC Quarterfinals.

It was a team effort for UNOH as seven different Racers posted double-figures, the most in the Westerlund Era and the program's most since November 1, 2019 (7). Alex Benson and Caleb Chapman led the way with 14 points each off the bench. Benson was exceptional in the second half scoring twelve of his 14 on 5-6 shooting from the field and 2-3 from long range. He finished the night 6-12 from the field with three rebounds two blocks and an assist. Chapman did most of his work in the first half finishing 4-8 from the field, 2-6 from outside and 4-6 from the free throw line in the game.

Malachi Black logged his first double-double of the season thanks to a monster second half where he hit 5-5 from the field and 2-2 from the charity stripe for twelve of his 13 points while pulling down seven of his game high eleven rebounds. Ryan Archey, Grant Pikkaart and Aden Brown rounded out the double-figures will all three adding eleven points in the game.

After a difficult shooting performance in the first half, the Racers went off in the second hitting 66% from the field and 50% from three-point as a team. UNOH edged out the Wolverines on the glass 42-41 but saw UMD score 54 of their 74 points in the paint to 42 for the Racers. The bench personnel played a huge factor in the team's success as UNOH racked up 41 points off the bench, the second most this season, while UM-Dearborn finished with just 13.

The win propels UNOH into the WHAC Quarterfinals where they will face No. 2 seed Lourdes on Thursday, February 27 for a chance to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2015.