The Green Bay Phoenix have walked away with a 76-63 win over the Detroit Mercy Titans thanks to strong efforts from CJ O’Hara and Marcus Hall.
Entering the contest, Green Bay fought to a victory over Northern Kentucky away from home. A massive three-point bucket from Preston Ruedinger gave the Phoenix a late 87-84 lead and a much-needed conference win. In the Horizon League standings Green Bay sat in the fourth position, 2.5 games behind leader Wright State followed by Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne.
Detroit Mercy, on the other hand, entered the game against Green Bay riding a two-game win streak over Northern Kentucky and Milwaukee. The Titans have sat directly behind the Phoenix nearly all season in the conference standing, adding plenty of fuel to the clash between the two sides.
The game was all Green Bay the entire time, however, as the Phoenix led 37-21 heading into the break in play. Detroit Mercy battled back with a 42-point second-half but the offensive resurgence was not enough to pull ahead of the hosts. Despite taking a foot off the gas, Green Bay put away a strong conference foe which now brings the team closer to the top of the Horizon League.
Green Bay Phoenix Secure Win over Detroit Mercy Following 16-point Effort from CJ O’Hara
Leading the charge on offense for Green Bay was the talented guard CJ O’Hara who is fresh off of back-to-back 20-point games. O’Hara dropped 17 points on the Titans while adding seven rebounds, both leading the team, alongside his two assists and two steals. The guard primarily served as a role player off the bench last season receiving sporadic minutes but O’Hara has turned a major corner for the Phoenix, starting all 25 games he has played in this year.
Preston Ruedinger was the man who provided the much-needed triple for Green Bay against Northern Kentucky and the guard returned against the Titans was a solid performance. Ruedinger had ten points and three rebounds while leading the team with five assists.
Forward Marcus Hall has been doing a bit of everything for the team this season, averaging 13.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 46% from the field. Hall recorded 13 points, five rebounds, an assist, a block, and two steals against the Titans in one of his more complete games of the season.
For the Titans, sophomore guard TJ Nadeau scored 20 points which is the sixth time this season the guard has done so. A four-for-five performance from three-point range was enough to bring some life to the Detroit Mercy offense, but unfortunately not enough to bring the score within striking distance.
For the Phoenix the next challenger that awaits is Purdue Fort Wayne, which is a team that has already had the pleasure of hosting Green Bay this season. The Phoenix walked away with a 72-54 win away from home last meeting but will have the chance to host on February 12th.
Green Bay and Detroit Mercy will meet again at the end of the month of February 22nd at Calihan Hall in Detroit. The Titans have historically struggled against Horizon League opponents at home this season, dropping four of their seven conference losses to visiting teams.
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