Claremont, CA – The Oberlin College men's basketball team returned to the court after a 19-day layoff, falling to the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 60-57, on Thursday night.
Senior
Jack Poyle spearheaded the Yeomen effort with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while sophomore
Eric Holt chipped in with 12. Like Holt,
Eli Silverman-Lloyd was also playing in his home state as he finished with nine points.
Oberlin raced out to a 14-2 lead through the first seven minutes of the game, but the Stags chipped away as the half wore on as the Yeomen settled for just a 31-29 advantage at the intermission.
The Yeomen would regain control of the game early in the second session, using a 9-1 run that featured seven points from Poyle to push the margin out to 10, 40-30, with 17 minutes left in the game. However, CMS would not go away without a fight, battling back to tie it at 43 before grabbing its first lead of the night at 48-47 on an Evan Davis 3-pointer at the 7:53 mark.
It would be nip and tuck the rest of the way as no more than three points would separate the two foes down the stretch. Poyle would cash in all three free throw attempts after getting fouled beyond the arc to tie the game at 57 with 2:02 left to play. However, Michael Scarlett would answer with a triple of his own just 20 seconds later and it would stand up as the game-winning hoop.
After a flurry of missed shots from Stags in the final minute, Oberlin had a chance to tie it, but Poyle's 3-pointer from the wing was just short as CMS held on for the win.
The Stags, who are getting votes in the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll, moved to 8-1 with the win, while Oberlin fell back to 1-8.
Oberlin shot 43.8 percent from the floor with 21 makes on 48 shots, however, the Yeomen struggled from 3-point land as they were just 5-of-24 (20.8%) from distance. The Stags, who outscored the Yeomen 32-22 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 37-21, shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) in the win.
The Yeomen will conclude their California swing on Saturday, December 31, at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tip time is set for 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST.
