Crawfordsville, Indiana – Getting their conference season started, the Oberlin College men's basketball team came out strong against 25^th ranked Wabash. Although ultimately falling to the Little Giants 80-78, the Yeomen put up a fight behind a near career-best performance by Dimitrije Radusinovic's 29 points. Oberlin moves to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC before continuing their conference play next week.
 
After winning the opening tipoff, the Yeomen got to work right away as Radusinovic and Dorde Otasevic hit back-to-back threes for an early lead over Wabash. Continuing their rampage, the Crimson and Gold got up by as much as nine points over the nationally ranked hoopers led by Otasevic with eight points in the first ten minutes.
 
Oberlin held their lead the entire half, only threatened by Wabash at the 6:22 mark when they hit a three-pointer to bring the score to 27-26. It was all Oberlin after that with Yuuki Okubo leading the pace with six points in the Yeomen's 13-5 run. Completely outplaying the Little Giants, the Yeomen hit 50% from the field with three steals and seven assists to the home team's zero steals and five assists.
 
Starting the half up 40-31, the Yeomen maintained their energy with a second-chance jumper from Otasevic and another pair of shots from Radusinovic and Okubo. Up by as much as 14 points, Oberlin continued to play relentless basketball against Wabash as the Little Giants looked to chip away at the OC lead.
 
With 4:33 remaining in the half, Wabash took their first lead of the game at 65-64 after driving for a layup. Going point-for-point Oberlin battle to regain control of the game but struggling against an experience Wabash team, OC fell behind by five with 24 seconds left to play. Looking for fouls, the Yeomen fought hard and Radusinovic drove to the rim for a pair of layups in the final seconds to bring the score to 78-80. With .1 left, Okubo managed a shot from their own arch but falling short, the game ended on the side of the Little Giants.
 
Radusinovic's 29 points and five rebounds nearly nets a new career-best for the junior after he scored 33 points earlier in the season against Allegheny. Also in double-digits, Otasevic (17) and Okubo (14) combined for seven rebounds while Okubo added seven assists and three steals.
 
The Yeomen get back in action next Wednesday, December 7 back home against the Denison Big Red. During the Wednesday game, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting their Holiday Hoops Pledge Game to raise money for St. Jude's Research Hospital in their fight against childhood cancer. To learn more about how you can participate, both in-person and remote, check out goyeo.com/HolidayHoops. Tipoff is set for 7pm with a live stream available here and live stats here.
 
Fans can watch all the home matches live online. Home contests can be accessed on a TV through the official Oberlin College Sports Network app on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.