Oberlin, Ohio – In its final home game of the 2014-15 season, the Oberlin College men's basketball team fell to No. 24 Wooster, 58-45, on Saturday afternoon at Philips Gym.
Prior to the game, the Yeomen honored junior
Ian Campbell, who is graduating early, along with seniors
Jesse Neugarten,
Austin Little and
Miles Gueno.
The combination of poor shooting and 19 turnovers proved to be too much for the Yeomen to overcome against the national power. Oberlin shot 32.1-percent (18-of-56), which included a 3-of-21 (14.3%) showing from beyond the arc. However, the Yeomen were within striking distance throughout the contest as the Scots were just slightly better from the floor, hitting 21-of-61 attempts with a 34.4-percent clip.
Nathan Cohen was the lone Yeomen in double figures as he reached 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Zach Meyers added nine points off the bench, while
Randy Ollie chipped in with seven to accompany his game-high 11 rebounds.
Wooster led 19-14 with 9:20 to go in the first half, but five minutes later the Scots increased their lead out to 12, 28-16, and would eventually take a 30-21 lead into the intermission.
Midway through the second half the Scots' advantage grew to 17, 44-27, but the Yeomen would fight their way back into the game. An 11-3 Yeomen run that featured four points from Cohen and a 3-pointer from
Jack Poyle cut the deficit to nine, 47-38, with 5:39 remaining in the game.
With just under two minutes left to play, an old fashioned 3-point play from Cohen shrunk the gap to six, 51-45. However, Wooster responded with a 3-pointer of its own and the Yeomen came up empty on their next two possessions to leave no doubt in the eventual outcome.
Wooster was led by 16 points from Dan Fanelly, while point guard Xavier Brown chipped in with 13. The Scots head into the upcoming NCAC Tournament with a record of 20-5 overall and 14-4 in the NCAC.
Despite the loss, the Yeomen (10-15, 6-12 NCAC) still secured the No. 8 seed in the NCAC Tournament and will travel to league champion Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday night.
