Big-time Bruns

ADA - Marion Local graduate Ryan Bruns has been putting up huge numbers all season for the Ohio Northern University men's basketball team.

He had another huge game on Wednesday.

Bruns scored 22 of his game-high 29 points after halftime, leading the Polar Bears back from a 16-point deficit to defeat Baldwin Wallace 85-74 victory in overtime at Ohio Northern Sports Center.

"If you watched the first 10 minutes of that game, we couldn't throw it in the Atlantic Ocean if we tried," Bruns said. "We came in at halftime and coach told us we needed to get deeper post touches. We've got to pass it in better. We got to defend better. We were getting outrebounded by 10 or something like that, especially on the offensive glass. They were just getting shot after shot. (Coach) told us we needed to do the little things. We weren't scoring. Our shots weren't falling, so we had to be able to grind it out on defense."

Bruns made a 3-pointer with 17:57 left on the clock in the first half to put Ohio Northern in front 7-2. However, the Polar Bears went ice cold over the next 10 minutes and the Yellow Jackets went on a 13-0 run.

Midway through the half, the Polar Bears were shooting 19 percent and 11 percent from behind the 3-point line. They went into the locker room trailing 37-22.  

The Polar Bears made 10-of-28 shots in the first half but finished the game 30-of-61.

Bruns scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second half - hitting a 3-pointer 40 seconds in and then adding two buckets from close range. His point total was up to 16 by the 13-minute mark. Still, though, the Yellow Jackets continued keep their lead above double digits for the first 8 minutes of the half.

"I think we did a good job of getting (Bruns) a little bit deeper touches and also penetrating when they were pushing him off of the paint," said ONU coach Rich Bensman, a Minster alum. "We were able to drive and get that passing angle."

The Bruns-Nate Burger combo eventually took over.

The score was 53-38 when Ohio Northern launched a 12-0 run, with Burger dialing up a couple from long distance and adding a sweet spin move for a layup. With five minutes remaining, Burger tied the game at 57-all when he went coast-to-coast and finished at the rim with an acrobatic move.

Later, Burger's reverse layup put ONU back in front, at 63-62, for the first time since the beginning of the first half. Bruns added to the lead with a bucket inside the next trip down, but Cam Kuhn hit a triple to tie the game at 65-apiece just 13 seconds later.

Following an ONU miss, Kuhn drove in and scored what appeared to be the go-ahead layup with 2.5 seconds to play, but Daniel Donner was in position to draw a game-saving charge to send the game into overtime.

Bruns' eight-foot turnaround gave the Polar Bears first lead of the extra session. The teams exchanged leads and were eventually locked at 71-all after Burger hit two free throws. Bruns provided the go-ahead pair at the line when he drew a foul the next trip down. After another defensive stop, Burger drove and dished to Bruns for a hoop-and-harm 3-point play.

And then Burger delivered the dagger with a pull-up 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining - a shot that put him in Ohio Northern's 1,000-point club alongside Bruns.

"It definitely is pretty special to see, especially for a kid like that," said Bruns on Burger. "He works really hard during the offseason and during the season. It's nice to see him finally get his points."

Bruns finished 11-of-20 from the field, 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and added six rebounds. Burger had 21 of his 23 points in the second half, hitting 8-of-18 shots and 3-of-7 from deep.

Ohio Northern improved to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, just one game behind co-leaders John Carroll and Marietta.

A reporter declared Bruns had earned "All-American status" after the win. One could certainly make a case. After Wednesday, Bruns is averaging 25.4 points per game on 58.9 percent shooting and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line to go along with 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks.

"I've always been a 6-8, skinnier kid, so this past summer I really focused on the weight room and stuff like that," Bruns said. "I was in there every day, just going there and trying to get better. That's what I really focused on. A lot of it is also because of the guards. Joey Diorio is shooting 45 percent or something like that from the 3-point line. Nate Burger is shooting extremely well and he can drive it. A lot of credit goes to them. It makes it extremely easier when you have good guards around you."