Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team could not withstand a furious late-game charge by the visiting Alma College Scots as they rallied for an 89-81 overtime victory to hand the Yeomen their first loss of the year.
 
Oberlin led 70-57 with 3:24 left to play in regulation but the wheels would come off from there as Alma's swarming defense flustered the Yeomen and held them to just three points the rest of the half. It would be Cole Klevier's 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go that ultimately tied it at 73.
 
The Yeomen would have one last chance to win it in regulation as Joshua Friedkin found room in the paint but his buzzer-beating jumper was a tad too strong as it hit back iron to send the game into overtime.
 
Early in the extra session, a traditional 3-point play by Kleiver pushed the Scots' lead to 79-75 but Fioretti did his part in keeping the Yeomen close as six straight points by him had the Yeomen within two, 83-81, with 2:23 still left to expire.
 
However, Oberlin would not score again while Kleiver tacked on a free throw and a dagger 3-pointer with 41 ticks remaining to effectively put the game away for good.
 
Fioretti's career-high 32-point performance was soured by the outcome as was a career-high 23-point showing from rookie Dorde Otasevic. The Niksic, Montenegro, native also added a team-high seven rebounds in the setback.
 
The Scots led 25-20 with 11:03 to go in the opening frame but the Yeomen responded with a 19-2 run that was capped off with a Friedkin triple-hit to make it 39-27 with just under five minutes left until the break. However, The Scots would chip away to make it a 44-39 Yeomen advantage at the intermission.
 
Alma never led in the second half as Oberlin was in control for the first 17 minutes of the period. After allowing the Scots to get within three, 56-53, the Yeomen quickly regrouped and extend the gap out to 11 on two different occasions and had the advantage up to 13 before it all fell apart down the stretch.
 
The loss dropped Oberlin back to 4-1 on the year, while Alma moved to 1-2.
 
The Yeomen will have a short turnaround as they welcome No. 5 Wittenberg to Philips Gym on Tuesday night for their first North Coast Athletic Conference game of the season. Tip-time is set for 7:30 p.m.