State ranked Titans top Van Wert

Van Wert independent sports

OTTAWA — Van Wert hung with No. 3 Ottawa-Glandorf for the first half, but the Titans flexed their muscles in the third and fourth quarters on the way to a 73-52 Western Buckeye League win over the Cougars on Friday night.

Owen Treece scored 10 of his 30 points in the opening quarter and Van Wert led 12-8 at the end of the period, but Ottawa-Glandorf’s Owen Nichols pumped in 10 points in the second quarter, and the Titans were able to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room. Treece scored nine points of Van Wert’s 11 points in the quarter.

A 32-10 third quarter scoring advantage by Ottawa-Glandorf (12-0, 3-0 WBL) gave the Titans a commanding 57-33 lead at the end of the period. Nichols dropped in eight more, while Ethan Alt drained three treys and two free throws to account for all 11 of his points in the game. Will Kaufman and Ben Westrick each added two baskets.

Aaron Rieman scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter and Nichols, who finished with 29, added five more. Treece added three triples in the final period and Nate Jackson hit a pair of baskets and finished with six points, as did Ethan Brown.

Van Wert (3-8, 1-3 WBL) is scheduled to play at Bryan tonight.