GROSS MARKED TWO CAREER MILESTONES IN SENIOR DAY WIN OVER GOVERNORS STATE

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The No. 13 Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team hosted their final Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Regular Season game at McHie Arena as they hosted the Jaguars of Governors State University on Senior night. The Tigers won their 26th game of the season and their 14th straight game, 97-81.    

Alex Gross marked eight of the first 10 Tiger points at the beginning of the first has the Tigers led 10-4.  The Jaguars cut the game to 10-9 until the Tigers went on a 9-2 run to make the score, 19-11.  Landon Pflederer buried a three during that run.  At 23-16, the Tigers continued to hold serve going on a 9-0 run as ONU took a 32-16 lead.  Tyler Schmidt made a three during that run. 

The Jaguars cut the Tiger lead to six at 37-31 with 3:30 left but the Tigers scored eight of the final 11 points and took a 45-34 lead going into the locker room.  Gross led the Tigers with 18 points and nine boards.  Schmidt followed with 16 points. 

Halftime: No. 13 Olivet Nazarene 45, Governors State 34

Gross kicked off the scoring for the Tigers as they took a 47-34 lead.  Gross and Schmidt continued to lead the Tigers in scoring in the second half as the Tigers led 58-50 with eleven-and-a-half left in the game.  Schmidt, Gross, and Barik Olden then buried a pair of free throws apiece and pushed the Tiger lead to 64-52. Then the Tigers put the game out of reach as they went on a 10-0 and led 72-52.  At 82-67 with five minutes left, ONU saw scoring from Gross, Cade Chitty, and Olden to make the score 89-72. 

Logan McCann marked the final five points for the Tigers as they won their 20th CCAC game of the season defeating the Jaguars, 97-81. 

GAME VITALS

Final: No. 13 Olivet Nazarene 97, Governors State 81

Records: No. 13 Olivet Nazarene: 26-3 (20-1 CCAC) | Governors State: 10-18 (7-14 CCAC)

Location: McHie Arena | Olivet Nazarene University | Bourbonnais, Ill.

QUICK HITS

• Gross marked a new career high with 43 points and grabbed 17 boards. 
• Gross broke the school record for the most rebounds in a single-season that was set in the 1968-69 season by Tom Pasko, who had a mark of 393 boards.   
• The Tiger big man also moved into second-place all-time with 1,143 career rebounds. 
• Schmidt followed behind Gross with 25 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. 
• Griffin Andricks followed with seven rebounds. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

The No. 13 Tigers conclude the regular season on Saturday, February 19th as they visit the Cougars of Saint Xavier University.  Tipoff inside the Shannon Center starts at 3 p.m.

--ONU—

*Contact: Sam Viebrock, Sports Information Director, stviebrock@olivet.edu