Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team turned in a great second-half effort to cruise past the visiting Kalamazoo College Hornets 71-51 on Tuesday night at Philips Gym.

Sophomore Marcus Johnson led the offensive attack with 18 points – 10 of which came in the second session. First-year Johnathan Nelson scored all of his 13 points in the first half. Josh Merritt added 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, while Dahsan Gary contributed nine points to go along with a game-high seven rebounds.

“We really locked down defensively in the second half and that was the difference,” Head Coach Isaiah Cavaco said. “Give our guys credit from making the adjustments at halftime and doing what they needed to do to get this win.

Kalamazoo (0-6) came out scorching hot, building a 14-2 lead four minutes into the game. Oberlin (3-5) responded with a 12-0 run of its own to tie the score at the 11:35 mark. The Hornets would regain the lead by as many as six on two separate occasions, but an 8-2 Yeomen spurt to close out the half tied the game at 36 at the break.

In the second half, it was all Oberlin as the Hornets netted just 15 points while making 13 turnovers over the final 20 minutes of play. A Johnson triple-hit gave OC its first double-digit lead of the game at 49-38 with 15:54 left to play. Playing in just his second game of the season due to illness, Ryan Magiera returned to action in fine fashion as he nailed a three-ball of his own – giving the Yeomen a 15-point advantage with 8:41 left to play and effectively putting the game on ice.

The 20-point margin of victory is the largest differential since the 1991-92 season when the Yeomen beat Earlham by 27 points, 83-56, in game 14 of that season. Oberlin's astonishing shooting percentage of 70.6-percent (24-of-34) is also the highest of any Cavaco coached team and is just three percentage points shy of the all-time NCAC record of 73.9-percent (34-of-46) set by Wooster against Allegheny on January 13, 1993.

Oberlin will look to stay hot when Alma College comes to town on Friday night for a 6 p.m. showdown. The Yeowomen will follow the men's game with an 8 p.m. match-up against Ursuline.

* Special thanks to George Miller '87 for information for this article.