Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College Yeomen and Denison University Big Red went shot-for-shot for 50 minutes on Friday night at Philips Gym, but in end it was the visitors who escaped town with the 80-76 double overtime victory.
The game featured 17 ties and eight lead changes as the Yeomen were in front for over 27 minutes of the contest compared to just 12:31 for the Big Red.
Oberlin led 65-59 with just over three minutes left in regulation but Oberlin was shutout the rest of the way, allowing Denison to tie the game. The Yeomen did have a chance to walk-off with the win in the closing seconds but
Wolf Moser's 12-foot baseline jumper rolled out to force overtime.
Neither team did much offensively in the first session of extra time, each netting just six points. The Big Red did appear to have a good chance to win it at the horn as Will Hunter slashed his way to rim in the final seconds but
Dorde Otasevic came flying in to reject his shot and keep the game level.
Denison scored the first four points of the second overtime but an Otasevic triple-hit trimmed the deficit down to one. After two minutes of no points by either side, a Scott Dean 3-pointer with 41 seconds to play increased the gap out to four. The two sides would then trade free throws and Oberlin would come up empty on two 3-point attempts in the final 12 seconds.
The score was tied 29-29 at the half but the Yeomen came out of the locker room hot, hitting five of their first eight shots to grab a 42-35 advantage at the 14:57 mark. An
Aidan Oliver layup just 90 seconds later gave Oberlin its largest lead of the night at 46-38.
The Yeomen led 53-46 with 9:41 still to expire but an 11-2 Denison run gave them a 57-55 lead at the six-minute mark. Oberlin answered back with an 8-0 response that featured threes from
Dimitrije Radusinovic and Moser to make it a 63-57 game in favor of the home side with just over four minutes left. However, Ostasevic's floater in the paint with 3:04 remaining proved to be their final points of the half to set the stage for the tough ending.
Radusinovic led all scorers with 23 points as he went 5-of-10 from distance while adding eight rebounds. Otasevic recorded a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 12 boards in the loss. Moser chipped in nine tallies and six assists.
The loss, which was Oberlin's 10th of the season in games decided by seven points or less, ended the Yeomen's (6-17, 4-13 NCAC) hope for a potential NCAC Tournament berth as the outcome of tomorrow's game against Hiram (8-16, 5-12 NCAC) is now inconsequential with the Terriers holding the tiebreaker for the eighth and final spot in the tournament. The final game of the season for the Yeomen will tip-off tomorrow at high noon inside Price Gymnasium.
