The Oberlin College men’s basketball team has gone 1-2 since the start of February. Junior guard Quinton Spencer played magnificently in all three games and was rewarded for his efforts by winning NCAC player of the week honors for the first two games.

The Yeomen had a rough start to the month with a loss at Denison. Oberlin fought hard, but just could not overcome their slow start and an 11-point halftime deficit. The Yeomen lost by a score of 74-65.

Spencer led Oberlin against Denison, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds. First-year Mike Loll added 13 points and registered five blocked shots.

These two strong performances were not enough to outweigh Denison’s rebounding advantage. Denison had 18 more boards than Oberlin. Two Denison players were double digits in rebounds. This edge on the glass was the key to Denison’s victory.

Feb. 4 saw another strong performance from Spencer, and this time his efforts led to the thrilling first Oberlin win of the season. Spencer scored 47 points, tying an Oberlin single-game record and had 12 rebounds in triple overtime against Hiram College. Oberlin also got a strong performance from sophomore Matt Godwin, who netted 23 points.

Oberlin led by 14 at halftime, but Hiram came out strong in the second half. Once Hiram pulled within one point, Oberlin went on a run to gain a six-point lead with only 1:44 to play. Hiram went on a 7-1 run to end regulation and send the game into overtime.

With the score tied and 38 seconds left to play, Oberlin shut down Hiram and forced the game into a second overtime. Oberlin then found itself down two with less than a minute to play in the second overtime, but Spencer tied it with 39 seconds to play. Again the Yeomen defense held the tie and the game went to a third overtime.

Spencer would not let the Yeomen lose, as he scored ten of his 47 in the third overtime. Oberlin had a costly turnover with 23 seconds to play, but the defense held once again, and the Yeomen won by a score of 102-100.

“I think getting the first win of the year kind of lifted the team spirit and encouraged us to play even harder,” said Spencer. “It’s always good to get the first win out of the way. It’s like a sign of relief to know that we can play with any given team on any given night.”

These two games earned Spencer NCAC player of the week honors. In the two games Spencer had a combined 74 points, 21 rebounds, nine assists and six steals. He followed up this honor with another strong performance Wednesday against Allegheny, scoring 19 and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Oberlin fell behind by 20 at the break despite jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. The Yeomen played better in the second half but still lost by a score of 86-55.

Oberlin’s record now stands at 1-20. Their next game is at home this Saturday at 3 p.m.