Mount Vernon, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team returned to action after a three-week layoff, falling 83-68 in an exhibition to the Cougars of Mount Vernon Nazarene on New Year's Eve afternoon.
 
The host Cougars are one of the top teams in Division II in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), ranking fourth in the nation as they now boast a 14-1 record on the year.
 
The Yeomen's frontline rotation stayed with the Cougars for 30 minutes of action before their reserve unit saw significant minutes down the stretch with freshman Adel Dibaei leading the taxi sqaud with six points on two 3-pointers.
 
Overall, Wolf Moser led the Yeomen attack with 13 points in 19 minutes off the bench while Andre Campbell and Joshua Friedkin each netted 10 points in a little over 20 minutes of action.
 
A traditional 3-point play by Isaac Finestone gave the Yeomen a 13-12 edge with 12:14 left in the first half but the Cougars would later swell the margin out to 29-20 with just under four minutes to play in the session. However, Oberlin closed the frame with a 12-6 response run to trim the deficit down to 35-32 at the intermission.
 
The Yeomen quickly got back to even to start the second half on a 3-pointer from Friedkin and were tied 48-48 with 12:45 to play before the Cougars pulled away and Oberlin emptied its bench.
 
The Yeomen were clearly trying to gets their legs back, shooting just 40.3 percent (25-of-62) in the loss, which included an 8-of-24 (33.3%) showing from beyond the arc. The Cougars shot 52.7 percent with 29 makes on 55 attempts.
 
The Yeomen return to action on Saturday with an NCAC Clash against Denison. Tip-time from Philips Gym is at 2 p.m.