Granville, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team pushed the Denison University Big Red to overtime, but in the end it was the Big Red who prevailed on their home court 89-81.
 
Four Yeomen finished in double figures, with senior center Randy Ollie leading the way with 20 points to go along with his eight rebounds. Jack Poyle added 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Nathan Cohen and Matt Walker each contributed with 14 points.
 
Walker's 3-pointer with 52 seconds to go gave the Yeomen a 72-71 lead, but the Big Red's Jett Speelman answered right back with a triple-hit of his own to put the Yeomen down by two. A Zach Meyers jumper tied the score at 74 and Speelman would miss at the buzzer to force the extra frame.
 
Tied at 79 midway through overtime, the Big would ultimately earn the win with a 9-0 run over the next 93 seconds to leave no doubt in the eventual outcome.
 
Denison controlled the first 20 minutes of play and ultimately took a 38-31 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
Oberlin trailed by 12, 53-41, with 13:38 left in regulation before working its way back into the game. A 12-4 Yeomen run that featured seven points from Cohen and a 3-ball from Scott Miller shrunk the gap down to 57-53 at the 11:06 mark.
 
The Big Red would extend the lead back out to nine, but Oberlin wouldn't go away quietly. Poyle dialed in on one of his four triple-hits to move the Big Red advantage down to 64-62 with 4:36 to go in the second half.
 
A pair of free throws from Ollie tied the game at 66 and the Yeomen would later take their first lead of the game at 69-68 on a Poyle 3-pointer with 1:23 to go and set up a thrilling final 60 seconds that resulted in overtime.
 
Speelman led all scorers with 32 points, while Darius White added 22 points for the Big Red.
 
Oberlin shot 45.1-percent (32-of-71) from the floor, while Denison checked in at 42.4-percent (28-of-66).  The Yeomen finished with a 42-37 edge on the glass and outscored the Big Red 44-26 in the paint.
 
The loss dropped the Yeomen to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the NCAC. Denison improved to 5-3 and 2-1 in league play.
 
Oberlin will play its final game of the 2015 calendar year when it travels out to Depauw on Saturday afternoon. Tip-time is set for 1:00 p.m.