Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the season, falling 63-60 to the visiting Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Wednesday night at Philips Gym.
 
The setback was the first non-league loss of the year for the Yeomen as they finished the out of conference slate with a 6-1 record.
 
Sophomore guard Christian Fioretti spearheaded the Yeomen effort, notching his second consecutive double-double and in his fourth straight game with double digit rebounds. The Menlo Park, California, native had 12 points and ripped down a career-best 14 rebounds in the defeat. Junior swingman Eli Silverman-Lloyd matched him with a team-high 12 points, but all of those came in the first half. Joshua Friedkin chipped in with 10 points, while Charles Tiedemann added nine.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half as the opening 20 minutes featured 11 lead changes and five ties. Silverman-Lloyd jumpstarted his 12-point stanza with an early 3-pointer that made it 7-2. A triple-hit from Fioretti at the 9:31 mark broke a 15-15 tie with 9:31 left on the clock and no more than three points would separate the two foes over the next eight minutes.
 
On the Yeomen's final possession of the half, Silverman-Lloyd knocked down another 3-pointer from the near wing to increase the Oberlin cushion to six, but the Spartans' Sam Hansen answered back before the buzzer with a long-range strike of his own to make it a 35-32 Yeomen advantage at the half.
 
The Spartans took control of the contest in the early portion of the second half as the Yeomen went cold from the floor with just three points in nine minutes which allowed the visitors to build up a 53-42 lead with 9:53 left to play.
 
However, the Yeomen would not go away quietly as they worked their way back into the game. Five straight points from Friedkin had the deficit down to just three at 57-54 with 2:15 left to expire. A pair of free throws from the sophomore guard made it 59-58 at the 1:22 mark, but Oberlin would come up empty on its next two possessions. A jumper from the Spartans' Michael Hollis with 17 ticks to go put them back up by three.
 
In effort to not allow Oberlin to hoist a potential game-tying 3-point shot, the Spartans were fouling the Yeomen on the ground to send them to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. Unfortunately, Oberlin missed on the front-end of those chances two times, which aided in the Spartans hanging on for the win.
 
The Spartans (6-5) had three players in double figures led by T.J. Duckett who paced all scorers with 20 points to accompany his 16 rebounds.
 
Oberlin out shot Case 41.8 percent (23-of-55) to 35.9 percent (23-of-64), but the Spartans earned a 44-34 edge on the glass, which included a 14-5 margin on the offensive end and in turned created 10 second-chance points for them.
 
The Yeomen (6-6) return to North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon as they travel across state lines to battle the Little Giants of Wabash College. Tip-time is set for 3 p.m.