ONU PICKS UP FIRST WIN BEHIND 87-67 ROUT OF EAST-WEST

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team picked up its first win of the 2024-25 campaign with a dominant 87-67 win over East-West Tuesday evening in McHie Arena.

The Tigers were led by a career night from redshirt-junior guard Caleb Corro. The Elmwood Park, Ill., native filled in a career-best 25 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting performance, knocking down 50 percent of his three-point attempts (3-of-6) and sinking six free throws.

And he had plenty of help. Four other Tigers reached double figures in the big win. Eli Edwards continued his strong start to the season, chipping in 12 points on 6-pf-9 shooting. Caleb Swearingen matched him with a dozen, as well. Luke Braman netted double figures for the first time this season with his 11 points, while Tyler Curl came off the bench to fill in 11 more.

ONU came out of the gates in a hurry, opening the game on an 8-0 run. And when Corro followed up a 3-pointer with a driving layup at the rim a few possessions later, the Tigers held a double-digit lead. The advantage ballooned to as many as 15 midway through the opening period after Curl knocked down a deep-range shot to make 28-13 at the 9:20 mark.

East-West (1-10) eventually got into a rhythm in the closing minutes of the first half and cut their deficit to seven points at 43-36 with under a minute to play in the period. But the Tigers closed out the period with six unanswered points to go back up by double figures at the halftime break.

And the Tigers would hold that double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as they cruised to the dominant win, their first of the season.

ONU had its best shooting performance of the season, shooting an even 60 percent from the floor (30-of-50) and converting on better than 40 percent from deep.

The Tigers will look to build on the win when they host St. Francis (Ill.) on Thursday, Dec. 5, in Mchie Arena.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu