Hiram, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team battled hard, but in the end it wasn't enough as the Hiram College Terriers outlasted the Yeomen, 78-68, on Saturday afternoon at Price Gym.
 
Senior center Randy Ollie did his part to keep the Yeomen close, scoring 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half while tying a career-high with 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Freshman Eli Silverman-Lloyd added 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Nathan Cohen broke out of his shooting slump with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
 
The Terriers' Kelvin Jones gave the Yeomen trouble all game long as he stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points and 16 rebounds. He was 8-of-11 from the floor and 7-of-12 at the free throw line.
 
It was a seesaw affair in the early going as a Zach Meyers 3-pointer briefly put the Yeomen out in front 13-12 with 12:18 left in the opening half. Following an 8-0 Hiram run, the Yeomen would get back within three, 24-21, on a Silverman-Lloyd long-range connection at the 6:40 mark.
 
The Terriers would reassert themselves and push the lead out to 11 with 61 seconds remaining in the frame before ultimately heading into the intermission with a 41-31 cushion.
 
Within the first 4:30 of the second session, the Yeomen cut their deficit in half as Ollie's layup cut the gap down to 45-40. However, the Terriers would again have a response as they increased their lead out to 16, 64-48, at the 10:22 mark.
 
Nonetheless, Oberlin would not go down quietly, fighting back to within seven, 66-59, with just under five minutes left to play. Then Jack Poyle's lone field goal of the game made it a two-possession game at 70-64 with 2:01 remaining.
 
After the lead got bumped back out to 10, the Yeomen got within six twice more with the last one coming with 46 ticks left to expire. However, the Yeomen would get no closer in the closing moments.
 
Oberlin dropped to 12-11 overall and 7-9 in the NCAC. Hiram moved to 17-6 and 11-5 in league play.
 
The Yeomen shot 36.8-percent (25-of-68) in the loss, while the Terriers checked in at 41.4-percent (29-of-79).
 
Oberlin will play its final home game on Wednesday night when welcomes No. 10 and NCAC-leading Ohio Wesleyan to town for an 8 p.m. tip-off.