Granville, Ohio - Playing without potential North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and the team's leading scorer JJ Gray due to injury, the fifth-seeded Oberlin College men's basketball team suffered a 78-62 defeat against the fourth-seeded Denison University Big Red in quarterfinal round of the NCAC Tournament on Tuesday night.

Four Yeomen finished in double figures, led by junior Asaan Snipes-Rea who posted 13 points off the bench. Yuuki Okubo netted 12 points, while Milun Micanovic scored 10 points as did senior Dimitrije Radusinovic in his final collegiate game. 

A throw-down dunk from Micanovic gave the Yeomen an early 8-4 edge, but the Big Red would settle in and eventually grab their first lead of the night on a Tyler Miller 3-pointer at the 10:09 mark that made it 13-12. The two foes would essentially trade buckets for the next five minutes, until the Big Red created some separation, claiming a 30-24 advantage with just under four minutes left in the opening half. 

An Okubo jumper had the Yeomen within one, 33-32, with 64 ticks left in the session but Denison would ultimately carry a 36-32 advantage into the intermission. 

The Big Red lead would swell to nine, 48-39, in the early portion of the second half, but a Radusinovic triple-hit with 13:09 still to play had Oberlin back within three, 51-48. Unfortunately, Denison orchestrated a 9-0 response run that pushed the differential out to 12 at the midway point of the second half. 

The Yeomen continued to fight, getting back within seven, 64-57, on another Radusinovic long-range connection with just under six minutes to play, but an 8-0 Big Red spurt left no doubt in the eventual outcome. 

The Oberlin bench bunch was outscored by its Denison counterparts 30-16 and the Yeomen lost the rebounding battle 28-22. OC shot 52.1 percent (25-for-48) from the floor, while the Big Red recorded at 58-percent clip (29-of-50), which included an impressive 10-of-21 showing from beyond the arc for a 47.8 percent success rate. 

Oberlin concludes its season at 14-12 overall and 8-8 in the NCAC.