ONU to be host in NCAA tournament

3/5/2001

ADA, Ohio - Ohio Northern will have an advantage when it advances to the NCAA Division III men's basketball “Sweet 16” this weekend.

The Polar Bears, ranked No. 1 in the country, will play host to the sectional semifinals and final on Friday and Saturday.

Four of the seven top-ranked teams in the country will be at the Ohio Northern site.

No. 2-ranked Massachusetts-Dartmouth (25-2) will play No. 7 Carthage (Wis.), which is 23-4, in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday.

Ohio Northern (25-2) will face No. 4 Wittenberg (24-3) in the second semifinal.

Saturday's sectional championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The winner advances to the Final Four on March 16-17 in Salem, Va.

Ohio Northern, received a first-round bye in the 48-team tournament, then defeated defending national champion Calvin (Mich.) 79-68 on Saturday.

In Saturday's game, Chad Bostelman scored 18 points and sparked a key second-half run.

KNIGHT/COMMERCIAL: Bob Knight is turning sweet, at least for orange juice.

In a TV commercial that makes its debut today, the former Indiana basketball coach sheds his infamous temper after taking a few swallows of orange juice.

“The whole premise here is people acting like you'd never expect,” said Dan Schafer, a spokesman for Coca-Cola's Minute Maid unit.

While the ex-coach is featured in just one of four new Minute Maid spots, the Knight ad is the most prominent.

Schafer said Knight lampoons his own persona in the ad. Knight puts his arm around a ref and bends to tie a player's shoe to keep him from tripping.