Box Score

January 17 – In a hard-fought battle at Wabash, the Oberlin College men's basketball team put up a strong fight but in the end the Little Giants proved to be too much as they outlasted the Yeomen 69-51 on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Mike Loll led the Oberlin offensive attack with 15 points, while fellow veteran Jordan Beard added 13 of his own.

“We played hard with a lot of effort today, but they were a little bigger and more physical than us down the stretch,” head coach Isaiah Cavaco said. “We were right there for most of the game and few possessions away from really challenging them for the lead till they were able to break away at the end.”

Oberlin (4-10, 1-5 NCAC) played tough in the early going and built an 11-7 edge seven minutes into the game. However, Wabash (8-6, 3-3 NCAC) responded with a 17-2 run to claim a 24-13 lead at the 7:08 mark. The Little Giants increased their advantage to as many as 17, but the Yeomen fought back to get within 11 at the break, 36-25.

In the second half Oberlin continued to scrap as the two teams went bucket-for-bucket for the first ten minutes, as Wabash never led by more than 12. Oberlin crawled within seven, 49-42, at the 8:33 mark, but Wabash went on 10-2 spurt over the next two-and-half minutes to short circuit any chance of an OC comeback.

The Yeomen shot 43.4-percent (23-of-53) from the floor but made just 3-of-13 (23.1%) triple-tries. Wabash finished at 45.6-percent (25-of-46) for the afternoon. The Yeomen went to the line just three times – making two, while the Little Giants triggered 17 charity tosses – converting 12.

Wabash won the rebounding war 39-25 – including a 14-5 advantage on the offensive end, which translated into 14-second chance points for the victors.

Oberlin will go right back to work on Monday night when they conclude their four-game road trip at Thomas More. Tip-time is set for 7 p.m.