Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team overcame Alma's full court press defense to earn a 76-61 victory over the visiting Scots on Saturday afternoon at Philips Gym.
Senior
Dorde Otasevic led the way for the Yeomen as he notched his fourth double-double of the year with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Andrew Gannon added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while
Will Bousquette III chipped in 11 tallies. Sophomore
Yuuki Okubo had the offense in rhythm as he dished out eight assists to accompany his eight points.
Oberlin jumped out to an early 17-7 lead, but a 7-0 Scots' response trimmed the gap down to just three with 9:08 left to play in the half. It was later tied at 21 with just under seven minutes to go in the opening session but the Yeomen closed the frame strong, using an 18-4 burst to carry a 39-25 advantage into the locker room.
Following the restart, the Scots came out hot, cashing in three straight 3-pointers as the Yeomen cushion quickly shrunk down to five, 41-36, in just over two minutes of game play. Oberlin would push the lead back to 11 on an
Asaan Snipes-Rea layup at the 15:08 mark but the Scots continued to stay within striking distance until the midway point of the second half.
A slashing layup from Bousquette extend the Yeomen advantage out to 15, 64-49, with just over six minutes to go and the Scots would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Connor Riley led the Scots with 20 points to go along with seven boards while Tyshaun Walker added 13 points in the loss to even Alma's record at 2-2.
Oberlin matched a season-high by shooting 49.2 percent (31-of-63) from the floor while holding the Scots to just a 31.1 percent (23-of-74) clip. The Yeomen also won the rebounding battle 46-37 and outscored the Scots 52-24 in the paint.
The Yeomen are now 3-4 on the year and will open North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday at Wabash. Tip-time is set for 2 p.m.
