Mechanicsburg, PA - The Oberlin College men's basketball team turned in an inspired second-half effort but couldn't get over the hump in the end as the Salisbury Seagulls outlasted the Yeomen, 65-64, on Friday night on the campus of Messiah University. 

Oberlin trailed by as many as 11 in the second half but had two looks in the final minute to potentially win it but neither went down  as the Seagulls were able to hang on for the victory, 

Rookie JJ Gray led the Oberlin offense with 17 points to accompany his seven rebounds, while Will Bousquette III added 12 points off the bench. 

A pair of Robert Millard free throws had the Yeomen down just one with 1:46 to play but Dimitrije Radusinovic would misfire on a 3-pointer and after another Oberlin stop, the senior would come up empty on a reverse layup to allow the Seagulls to hang on for the win. 

Oberlin trailed 39-30 at the intermission but stayed within striking distance the whole way. A pair of charity tosses from Yuuki Okubo made it a 65-62 game with 3:30 still to play before Millard got them even closer but the Yeomen were unable to execute down the stretch.

A Jordan Oates 3-pointer with just under seven minutes to go in the first half gave Salisbury a 10-point edge, 29-19, with 6:54 left in the frame. A Cameron Heard long-range connection later swelled the Salisbury lead to 34-21 at the 3:51 mark but the Yeomen fought back to within nine at the break. 

The Yeomen shot a subpart 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor, and continued to struggle from distance by going 5-of-27 from beyond the arc for an 18.5 percent clip. 

The loss dropped Oberlin back to 1-3 while Salisbury moved to 3-1. 

Oberlin will take on Messiah tomorrow at 3 p.m.