Alma, MI - The Oberlin College men's basketball team finished on the wrong end of a 78-72 score at Alma College on Saturday afternoon.
Senior
Dimitrije Radusinovic led Oberlin with a double-double performance with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, which included a 4-of-6 showing from beyond the arc. The Podgorica, Montenegro, native also ripped down 10 boards in the loss. Rookie
JJ Gray added 12 points, while
Yuuki Okubo,
Andrew Gannon, and
Robert Millard each chipped in nine points.
Oberlin got off to a quick start, building a 10-3 lead less than four minutes into the game but the Scots worked their way back to within two, 16-14, at the 13:44 mark. It was nip-and-tuck from that point on with neither side leading by no more than five points for the rest of the session.
Two of Colton Meister's 16 first-half points would give Alma its first lead of the game at 30-29 with 6:28 to go. A Radusinovic 3-pointer from the top key with 63 ticks left evened the count at 38-38 but it was Gabe Bourdeau's triple-hit just before the buzzer that gave the Scots a 41-38 halftime edge.
Alma swelled its lead out to 10, 63-53, midway through the second half but the Yeomen would not go away quietly. A dunk from Gray capped off a 9-2 Oberlin run that shrunk the Scots' lead down to 65-62 with 5:30 left on the clock.
Alma would respond by pushing its lead back out to eight but a 6-0 Yeomen spurt that featured a pair of buckets from
Milun Micanovic had Oberlin within striking distance at 70-68 with 2:20 left to play.
In the final minute, Radusinovic would split a pair of three throws with the rebound going off of Alma to give the Yeomen a chance to tie it as they trailed 72-69 but instead a critical turnover ensued and Alma was able to ice the game away at the free throw line.
Oberlin shot 43.9 percent (29-of-66) from the floor, but left five big points on the free throw line, going just 8-of-13 at the charity stripe for a 61.1 percent clip. Conversely, Alma cashed in 13-of-14 freebies for a 92.9 percent success rate while shooting 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the field.
The Yeomen had no answers for Meister as he finished with a game-high 30 points for the Scots on 14-of-22 shooting.
Both teams are now 1-1 on the young season.
Oberlin will return home to host Otterbein University on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
