Coming off a disappointing 69-74 home loss to Allegheny, the Oberlin Yeomen traveled to Gambier, Ohio to face Kenyon College in a game that they needed to win to keep their late season playoff hopes alive. Head Coach Isaiah Cavaco was only able to field eight players for the Kenyon game, as some of his key men were still out with injuries.

Sophomore co-captain Noah Goldman and sophomore DJ Maynard are out for the season, as is first-year Joe Blasher who is still nurturing an Achilles’ tendon injury. With a depleted squad, the Yeomen have been forced to play more minutes than they normally do over the past two weeks. This has had a negative effect on the team, causing losses due to foul trouble and fatigue.

Cavaco explained that the injury problems have placed the biggest burden on the younger players. “Conditions have forced difficult situations onto the shoulders of some of our younger players. Sometimes they have acted like upperclassmen and other times as underclassmen,” he said.

Oberlin faced Kenyon in a mid-afternoon tip-off at 3 p.m. Oberlin had claimed a narrow 63-62 victory in the thrilling first encounter between the two teams, but it was evident from the get-go that Kenyon was out to make sure lightning did not strike twice. In the first 11 minutes, all the lightning came from them as they established a quick 17-point lead. The Yeomen were able to stay in the contest though, cutting the lead down to ten points at 30-20 by the break.

The Yeomen came out of halftime re-energized, playing an impressive second half. They cut Kenyon’s lead down to 38-30 and then went on a 17-4 run, taking the lead 47-42. Nine of Oberlin’s 17 points in that stretch were scored by senior captain Quinton Spencer, who continues to make big plays for the team in his final season.

Unfortunately, the Kenyon Lords were able to regain the lead with the help of Bryan Yelvington, who scored 24 points on that afternoon. The Lords took over from there, out- hustling the Yeomen and going on to win the game 73-66. Regardless of the loss, Oberlin’s performance in the second half deserves recognition, as the Oberlin team scored a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line and shot a noteworthy 50% from the field (as opposed to 17.9% in the first period). They outscored Kenyon 46-43 in a period that saw 20 of the highest quality minutes from an Oberlin team that Cavaco believes has “taken a positive step.” Spencer, junior Jordan Beard and sophomore Mike Loll were in double digits on the night, scoring 18, 18, and 20 points respectively.

That loss puts the Yeomen at 4-19 on the season and 3-11 in conference action. Oberlin was scheduled to play Ohio Wesleyan in a Valentine’s Day showdown but the game was postponed due to the snowstorm that hit the area. The game was rescheduled for Thursday. The Yeomen will then face Earlham College on Saturday, Feb. 17 in the final game of the regular season. Oberlin must win both games if they are going to see any playoff action this year. Regardless, the performance of the team in spite of injuries is impressive. The team is on the verge of breaking the Oberlin single season free throw percentage record and Beard is three shots away from the school single season three-pointer record.