Springfield, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team entered Wednesday's contest riding a four-game winning streak, but that run came to an end as the Wittenberg University Tigers topped the Yeomen, 78-65, at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
 
Sophomore point guard Joshua Friedkin led the Yeomen 17 points and five assists, while first-year center Jordan Armstrong added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Sophomore Charles Tiedemann brought a spark off the bench, dropping in 12 points in 17 minutes of action.
 
The game was decided at the free throw line and on the glass as Oberlin faced a big shortcoming in both categories. The Tigers hoisted 34 free throws – making 20 for a 58.8 percent success rate. The Yeomen, who attempted just five charity tosses in the game, were also out-rebounded by Wittenberg 44-24, which included an 18-0 advantage on the offensive end.
 
A baseline jumper from Tiedemann gave the Yeomen a 15-10 lead with 13:04 left in the opening half. Back-to-back triple-hits from Friedkin tied the game at 25 with 5:48 left in the frame, but the Yeomen would go scoreless the rest of the way as the Tigers took a 34-25 advantage into the locker room.
 
The Tigers would increase their cushion out to 13 early in the second half, but the Yeomen wouldn't go away quietly. A 3-pointer from Nile Godfrey shrunk the gap down to 43-39 with 14:11 left to play.
 
One of five long-range makes by Friedkin had the deficit down to 48-46 at the 11:41 mark, but the Tigers would reestablish control and ultimately build up a 12-point lead at 64-52 with just over six minutes to go.
 
A finish from Armstrong inside the paint with 4:48 left to play had the Yeomen within seven, 64-57, but they would get no closer the rest of the way.
 
The Yeomen struggled to contain Connor Seipel who led all scorers with 27 points in 24 minutes off the bench. As a team, the Tigers shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63), which included a 4-of-15 (26.7%) showing from beyond the arc.
 
Oberlin also made 27 field goals, doing so on 54 attempts for a 50-percent clip. The Yeomen cashed in 7-of-17 triple-tries for a solid 41.2 percent effort.
 
The Yeomen head home at 4-2 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC. Wittenberg remained perfect on the year, moving to 5-0 and 1-0 in league play.
 
Oberlin returns home to host Hiram College on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.