Delaware, Ohio – The No. 17 Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops secured the top seed in the upcoming NCAC Tournament with a 106-76 defeat of the Oberlin College Yeomen on Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena.
 
Junior center Randy Ollie led the Oberlin offensive attack with 20 points to accompany his nine rebounds and four assists. Nathan Cohen extended his string of consecutive double-digit games to 13 as he finished with 13 points. Ian Campbell added 12 off the bench, while Jack Poyle chipped in with 11.
 
However, the Bishops could not be slowed down as they too had four players finish in double figures with freshman Nate Axelrod and junior Claude Gray combing for 57 points. Ben Simpson added 16 points while Joe Kinsley added 10 off the bench.
 
Axelrod came out scorching hot, hitting 8-of-9 shots as he scored 22 of his career-high 32 points in the first half to help the Bishops claim a 56-39 lead at the break. OWU led 22-7 in the early going, but Oberlin battled to get within six, 30-24, at the 7:54 mark. However, the Bishops regained control of the game as they held a 17-point cushion at the intermission.
 
In the second half the Yeomen continued to fight, but could never quite get over the hump. Oberlin cut the deficit to 10, 69-59, with 12:37 remaining in the game. However, the Bishops responded with a 15-5 run to increase the lead back out to 20 and continue to roll offensively.
 
The Bishops shot an impressive 52.8-percent (38-of-72), which included a 15-of-35 (42.9%) showing from beyond the arc as they reached their season-high point total. Oberlin also shot the ball well, checking in at 43.8-percent (28-of-64), but a had a large discrepancy from 3-point land where they were just 6-of-21 (28.6%).
 
With the loss the Yeomen dropped 10-14 and 6-11 in the NCAC. With Kenyon's loss tonight against Wittenberg, Oberlin remains in sole possession of the number eight seed in the NCAC Tournament with one game to play. The Bishops secured the regular season league title, as they are now 20-4 and 15-2 in the league.
 
Oberlin will conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon when No. 24 Wooster comes to town for the Senior Day affair.