Greencastle, IN – The Oberlin College men's basketball team rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to defeat the DePauw University Tigers, 76-71, on Saturday afternoon at the Neal Fieldhouse.
 
The victory ran the Yeomen's record to 12-13 overall and 6-12 in the North Coast Athletic Conference as they secured a spot in the league tournament, which will begin on Tuesday night. The official tournament bracket will be released later this evening.
 
After being down 38-17 with 1:38 left in the opening period, Oberlin trailed by 16 at the half, but methodically worked its way back into the game. A putback layup from Eli Silverman-Lloyd at the 15:40 mark of the second half shrunk the gap down to 48-40 and the Yeomen would be within single digits the rest of the way. Midway through the frame, a triple-hit by Silverman-Lloyd made it just a two-possession game at 57-53.
 
The Yeomen were later trailing 60-53, but would use an 11-3 run over the next 3:30 to take their first lead of the game since the 18:03 mark of the first half when it was 4-2. The go-ahead spurt was capped off with a 3-pointer from Joshua Friedkin that put Oberlin out in front 64-63 with 5:47 left to play.
 
It was nip and tuck the rest of the way as no more than one possession would separate the two foes until the final seconds of the contest. The teams traded buckets as the lead flipped back and forth down the stretch. A layup by Christian Fioretti was followed by a pair of free throws by Andre Campbell with 64 seconds left to make it a 72-71 Yeomen advantage.
 
The Yeomen defense would come away with a big turnover and Friedkin was quickly fouled and sent to the line for two. The 87-percent free throw shooter would cash in both freebies to increase the Yeomen lead to three, 74-71. In the closing seconds, the Tigers David Vogel had a look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key, but his challenged attempt was off the mark. Campbell would secure the rebound and march to the end of the floor to knock down two game-clinching free throws.
 
The Yeomen outscored the Tigers 52-31 in the second half and forced 11 of the Tigers' 18 turnovers over the final 20 minutes of action. The Yeomen would make them pay dearly with 22 points off of the miscues. In total, the Yeomen registered 30 points off of turnovers in the win.
 
Campbell scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, while Silverman-Lloyd netted nine of his 16 in the second session to match Campbell with a team-high point total. Friedkin finished with 15 points, while Fioretti added 12 points to accompany his five assists.
 
It was 6-6 in the early going, but a 13-3 Tigers' run made in a 19-9 game with 9:11 left to play in the first half. The Yeomen offense could not get into a rhythm as DePauw ballooned its lead out to 20 at 33-13 at the 3:49 mark and would ultimately carry a 40-24 cushion into the intermission. 
 
After an 8-of-26 (30.8%) performance in the first half, the Yeomen shot it at a 61.3 percent clip in the second stanza as they connected on 19-of-31 shots. Overall, the Tigers checked in at 55.6 percent, hitting on 25-of-45 shots. They conclude the regular season at 11-14 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
 
The Yeomen, who will be the No. 8 seed in the NCAC Tournament, will learn where they will be heading on Tuesday night when the official bracket is released tonight.