Kent, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team put forth a strong effort at Division I Kent State, but ultimately fell to the Golden Flashes 71-48 on New Year's Eve at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
 
Kent State's length and athleticism played a large role in holding the Yeomen to just 34.5 percent shooting as Oberlin connected on 19 of the 55 shots it hoisted in the contest. No Yeoman reached double figures but 11 players did score in the game. Senior Eli Silverman-Lloyd led the way with eight points, while Christian Fioretti added seven in the loss. First-year Charlie Riordan also dropped in a career-best six points in eight minutes off the bench.
 
The Yeomen couldn't have asked for a better first half as their stingy defense held the Golden Flashes to under 28 percent shooting (8-of-29) while forcing eight Kent State turnovers.
 
KSU led 16-6 with 9:12 left to play in the frame but Oberlin continued to chip away at the deficit. Nearly five minutes later, Evan Suppa banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 20-16. In the closing moments, Fioretti twice got the Yeomen within three points, with the second time coming on beautiful backdoor layup that was setup by a Joshua Friedkin feed at the 1:36 mark. However, it was Kent who posted the final points of the frame as Philip Whittington slammed one home to make it a 25-20 game at the intermission.
 
After being flustered by the Yeomen in the opening half, the Golden Flashes came out of the locker room with a renewed sense of urgency in the second session, opening up a 40-25 lead in just over five minutes of action.
 
Kent State later led 47-26 but a 9-2 Yeomen burst that featured four points from Charles Tiedemann and a 3-pointer from Silverman-Lloyd had the margin down to 14, 49-35, with just over 10 minutes left to play. Unfortunately, Oberlin was unable to get any closer as the Golden Flashes pulled away down the stretch to improve to 11-2 on the year with the Yeomen dropping back to 6-4.
 
Whittington led the Kent State effort with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaylin Walker also added 14 points in the win.
 
Tiedemann steered the Yeomen with eight rebounds and Andre Campbell added seven but it overall the Flashes won the battle of the boards 43-29. KSU finished at 41 percent (25-of-61) shooting after a much-improved 53.1 percent (17-of-32) performance in the second half.
 
The Yeomen, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, look to return to their winning ways in a Thursday matinee at Case Western Reserve University. Tip-time is set for 11 a.m.