Wooster, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team pushed the 20th-ranked Scots of Wooster to the brink, but in the end the longtime national power was able to stave off the Yeomen, 94-92, on Wednesday night at Timken Gymnasium.
Oberlin trailed by eight with 49 seconds left to play but back-to-back 3-pointers by Wolf Moser made it just a one-score game with 11 seconds still to expire. Moser would then steal the ensuing inbound pass but Oberlin was never able to get off a potential game-winning shot. After getting inside the paint, Joshua Friedkin had the ball knocked away from him out of bounds. However, the Yeomen would still have a chance with 0.9 seconds left on the clock, but the inbounds pass towards Andre Campbell was off the mark and the Scots escaped with the victory.
Five Yeomen finished in double figures as they shot a blistering 59.6 percent (34-of-57) from the floor, which included an impressive 12-of-25 (48%) showing from beyond the arc. Christian Fioretti led the charge with 21 points, nine assists, and a team-high five rebounds. Friedkin poured in 19 points, cashing in 4-of-7 triple-tries along the way. Junior Isaac Finestone added a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Moser cashed in five triples for 15 points. Campbell chipped in with 11, marking his fifth straight game in double-digits.
The Scots opened the game on a 7-0 spurt but the Yeomen answered back with an 8-0 response run. It would remain nip and tuck for the next 10 minutes of action as the two foes essentially traded buckets as the first half featured nine of the game's 10 lead changes. A fast-break dunk by Jordan Armstrong off a beautiful trail pass by Fioretti made it a 42-36 Yeomen advantage with 2:17 left in the half and Oberlin would ultimately carry a 48-43 cushion into the intermission.
Oberlin led 52-45 early into the second session but an 8-1 Wooster run tied the game at 53-53 at the 16:44 mark. The Scots would lead by as many as six, 67-61, before Oberlin rallied to tie the game at 69-69 with just over 10 minutes left to play.
The Yeomen later trailed 75-72, however, Wooster would pull away with an 11-2 burst to make it 86-74 with 5:21 remaining in the game and appeared to be well on its way to victory but Oberlin had other ideas.
One of Mosers' five 3-pointers in the game cut it to 89-81 and a pair of Fioretti free throws would follow to shrink the gap down to six. However, a dagger triple-hit by Danyon Hempy gave the Scots some breathing room with 2:13 to go but the Yeomen kept coming. A minute later, a corner three-ball by Finestone had it down to six before Hempy would answer once again to give the Scots just enough separation to hold off Moser and the Yeomen in the closing seconds.
Hempy finished with a game-high 28 points as he led a Wooster offense that shot 58.1 percent (36-of-62) in the win. The Scots moved to 12-2 overall and 6-1 in the NCAC while the Yeomen have dropped three of their last four games to go to 8-6 and 2-5 in league play.
Oberlin will look to get on track at home on Saturday afternoon when the Hiram College Terriers invade Philips Gym. Tip-time is set for 3 p.m.
