Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio – A questionable foul call with five seconds left sent Wabash's Wes Smith to the line - who went on to make both free throws and steal a 63-61 win away from the Yeomen on Saturday afternoon.

On the previous possession, first-year Josh Merritt drove inside and finished strong at the rim for two of his career-high 15 points to tie the game at 61.

On the ensuing Wabash possession, Smith drove inside and got shutoff by a gang of Yeomen defenders and it appeared as if Dashan Gary ripped the ball clean, but a late whistle sent Smith to the charity stripe – effectively taking the game right out of the hands of the Yeomen.

“This was a tough loss for us today,” head coach Isaiah Cavaco said. “For us to be right there and have the game be decided like that really hurts, but we could have done some things a little bit better in order to not even be in that position.”

Joining Merritt in double figures were senior Jordan Beard as he led the Yeomen with 17 points, while fellow senior Omari Hall added 11 in the loss.

Oberlin (5-18, 2-12 NCAC) battled back from a 36-29 half-time deficit to tie the game at 40 with 14:43 left to play. Moments later, Ryan Magiera dialed in on one of his two triple-hits - giving Oberlin its first lead of the second session, 43-42.

The Little Giants (10-12, 5-9 NCAC) responded by grabbing a 52-47 edge, but a mini 7-0 Yeomen spurt put them right back on top with 5:05 on the clock. From then on, no more than two points separated the teams the rest of the way.

Beard nailed one of his four triples to put OC up one, 59-58, at the 1:17 mark. On the next trip for the Little Giants, Gary came down with a big rebound for the Yeomen, but got tagged with a traveling violation after he was bodied to the floor by a Wabash defender. The Little Giants capitalized on the call and went on to reclaim the lead on a pair of free throws.

All in all the game featured eight lead changes and eight ties. The Yeomen shot well from the floor – making 57.5-percent (23-of-40) of their shots – including an impressive 8-of-12 (66.7%) from downtown. However, they were plagued by a poor effort at the line where they went just 7-of-14.

Wabash, who was led by a game-high 20 points from Smith shot 38.9-percent (21-of-54) and was just 6-of-20 (30%) from long range.

Oberlin's senior class of Colin Sallee, Mike Loll, Beard and Hall were honored before the game as part of the Senior Day festivities.

Oberlin will look to bounce back on Wednesday night when they take on Ohio Wesleyan in its final home game of the season. Tip-time is set for 7:30 p.m.