DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University men's basketball team opened up the season at home on Friday night, hosting Alma. The Bishops broke out to an early first half lead, expanding it to 26 at the half, en route to a 19-point victory, 86-67.

OWU starts the season 1-0. Alma starts of 0-1.

The Red and Black slowly built up an advantage in the first 10 minutes with Isaac Ward scoring 11 to make the difference in the game, up 11 at the 11:33 mark, 25-14. From there, Ohio Wesleyan would finish the first half hot, putting together an 18-0 run to take a 26-point lead into the break, 53-27. Jessee Battle was the main contributor to the run, putting up eight points in the 4:45 timespan.

Alma began to make a dent coming out of the half on a 13-2 run to tighten the score at 55-40. However, the Bishops would keep the Scots at bay, going on an 11-0 run of their own mid-period, again bolstered by Battle with five of the 11. This all but capped off an impressive night for the Red and Black, resulting in an 86-67 win.

THE NUMBERS
Isaac Ward led the Ohio Wesleyan offense with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting that included 4-of-7 from behind the arc. He also had three rebounds and two steals.

Jessee Battle was just behind with 21 points on 8-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-3 from deep, adding two boards, one block, and one steal.

Peyton Frey started his OWU career off strong with 10 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.

James McCarthy scored eight points with two rebounds, and one assist.

Kevin Gallagher had seven points with three assists.

Quinn Hart had six points, three rebounds, two steals, and one assist.

Jake Lowman led the squad in assists with five, also putting up five points, six rebounds, two steals, and one block.

Anthony Mordini led the team on the boards with a career-high eight rebounds, also adding three assists, a career-high three steals, two points, and one block.

UP NEXT
The Bishops are back in action at home tomorrow as they take on No. 12 Calvin at 5 p.m.