UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio -- It was alumni night in Upper Arlington as former Golden Bears that spanned several decades were acknowledged, which included the 10-year anniversary team that was the state tournament runner-up. The current batch of Bears should have made alumni proud as they were in control for most of their 54-39 win over Groveport Madison on Wednesday night.

After a Nate Schoeny field goal would put the Bears up 11-10 toward the end of the first quarter, the Bears would only add further to their lead as the Cruisers were unable to get within eight points for most of the second half. 

The formula for success was apparent with UA's balanced scoring, a compliment of their unselfish approach to sharing the ball. The Bears had five players score seven or more points and unofficially had 15 assists.

Sophomore Ciarnan Moloney led with 13 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc, while Schoeny had ten. Senior Mac Igoe and junior Quinn Corna both had eight and sophomore Alex Smith finished with seven. Junior guard Cal Casey was the main distributor, with an unofficial tally of six assists.

Outside of junior Joshua Moore, the Cruisers struggled to find much offensive consistency and didn't pass the 30-point benchmark until three minutes through the final period. Moore led all scorers with 18 points. No other player finished with more than seven points, which was hit by sophomore Tyreke Ruffin.

The Bears (4-2, 1-1) have now won three straight and have one more non-league game at Teays Valley on Saturday before a strong league test against undefeated Olentangy Orange on January 5th.

The defeat for the Cruisers (5-4, 1-2) ends their three-game win streak and they'll look to stay above .500 when they visit Pickerington Central for an OCC-Buckeye game on January 5th.

For more on UA's comfortable win, check out the 5 Keys below:

1. Balanced Bears - Head coach Joe Bills may not have a superstar but on Wednesday, he showed he has a team that has multiple guys that are more than capable of scoring. Against Groveport, we saw the Bears can win from outside as six combined threes were made from three players, but also an ability to score around the rim even though they lack significant size outside of Smith. Players like Schoeny, Corna or Igoe may not be flashy, but are capable of converting on tough buckets. This was all more impressive considering junior starter Weston Gregg was out due to injury.

2. Spread Love, the UA Way - It wasn't a perfect evening for the Bears, which we'll address on our next key. But ultimately what stood out to be the difference was how much better UA moved the ball in the half-court offense compared to the Cruisers. Unofficial stats had the Bears out-assist Groveport 15-to-3. The Cruisers often settled for individual moves and simply failed to convert on a majority of their open shots off the pass. Having an unselfish approach, which the Bears have recently shown, can help them overcome some talent gaps and keep them competitive against most area teams.

3. Good Can Always Be Better - UA was the more polished team on Wednesday, but there's room for improvement. At times, the Bears let the Cruisers frustrate them into too many unforced turnovers that allowed Groveport to stay somewhat in reach.  The Cruisers were able to grab eight steals, four of which came from sophomore Tro Glenn. Had the Cruisers been able to convert on more of their attempts, this could have been a much closer game.

4. Moore Action - It was not a banner night for the Cruisers, but it was an impressive outing from junior Joshua Moore, the six-foot-three shooting guard.  His 18 points gave Groveport continuous life, as he connected on three triples and was active around the rim. We'll have more on Moore in our Substack Prospect Scouting Report, but we were impressed with his consistency and competitiveness as he appeared to be the one guy that Bears couldn't figure out.

5. Division Outlook - While Wednesday's game didn't count in the league standings, both coaches can use their respective results as takeaways on what's needed to compete in their competitive divisions. The Bears are in the arguably most balanced division, the OCC-Central, and will rarely have a night off in league play. After they had a close loss to Hilliard Bradley in overtime, followed by an upset win over Olentangy Liberty, UA could realistically compete for the league crown, but also could improve a few areas to prevent a fall to the middle or bottom of the standings. The Cruisers are in more of a top-heavy division in the OCC-Buckeye, with tough foes such as Reynoldsburg, Newark and Pickerington Central. A goal to pull off an occasional upset that can help them sneak into the top three of the standings would be an impressive achievement for a relatively young team coached by Lamont Hampton.