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by Scott Rex After winning the school's first national championship in 2002, anything this year's men's basketball team accomplished would be hard pressed to live up to expectations. And while a repeat of 2002 was never really a consideration, the Cardinals competed every night, perhaps more so with an eye toward 2004. Without a senior, Otterbein fought to a 15-11 overall record, defended its Otterbein "O" Club Classic championship and earned the right to host an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament game. Of Otterbein's 11 losses, six were by five points or less. After opening the season 4-5, Otterbein came together and won its second straight "O" Club championship. Aaron Minister earned tournament most valuable player honors, scoring 35 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the two contests. The Cardinals proceeded to split their next four conference games, but finished strongly, winning 7 of 10 down the stretch. Most impressive of all, Otterbein won three of its final four contests without leading scorers Tony Borghese and Scott Hadley, who suffered injuries at Capital on Feb. 8. Hadley, just a sophomore, earned second team All-OAC honors after averaging 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. Minister (13.3 ppg., 6.1 rpg.) and Mo Ross (11.5 ppg., 4.7 rpg.), a pair of juniors, joined Borghese (14.7 ppg., 1.9 rpg.), a sophomore, as honorable mention selections. While the 2002-03 season may have left a bitter taste in the Cardinals' mouths, prospects for next year are high. Otterbein returns everyone from this year's team, including four juniors (Minister, Ross, Phil Susi and Kyle Walton), two-year starters in Borghese and Hadley and three freshmen who saw significant varsity action, giving head coach Dick Reynolds a solid core to work with as he enters his 32nd season at Otterbein.
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