Men's basketball team falters in second half

For a half Saturday, the men's basketball team showed they can play with the conference's best. Then Oberlin's shooting fell apart and the conference's best used its height - and muscle - to dominate the boards and sink Oberlin.

The conference's best was Wittenberg, a nationally-ranked team and the preseason favorite to win the NCAC this year. The setting was Philips Gym where it was the home-opener for the Yeomen. And the score was 77-53.

Oberlin heads into the break of its first season under coach Miguel Curl with a 1-4 record and losses in both its conference games.

Oberlin jumped out to a 3-2 lead when senior guard Darryl Seldon hit a 3-pointer. That got the Yeomen rolling. By the time 7:10 had run off the clock, junior guard Frank Boley had hit two threes, sophomore John Norris had six points and Oberlin was up 19-14.

Shortly after the midpoint of the half, Oberlin lost that lead and never regained it. But the halftime deficit for the Yeomen looked manageable at 6 points.

"Our players were feeling really good about being in the game and being competitive with a team ranked nationally," Curl said. But his explanation sours as he reaches the second half. "We made some poor decisions in our shot selection."

The manageability deteriorated quickly as Wittenberg scored 13 of the 14 points that were scored in the first six minutes of the second half.

"Basically, I think that we lost a little of our momentum," Seldon, the team's captain said. "I don't think that we are hungry for a whole game."

That proved true as the Wittenberg points piled up until time expired with the Yeomen down by 24.

Oberlin shot a respectable 43.5 percent in the first act and a meager 20.7 percent in the finalé.

But the bigger story was grabbing the shots that didn't go in. Wittenberg snagged more offensive rebounds than Oberlin did defensive boards. Overall, Wittenberg cleared the glass 52 times to Oberlin's 31.

Seldon, a guard, was the Yeomen's leading rebounder with 6. The Tigers roster included one 6-ft-8 and two 6-ft-7 players. Oberlin has one 6-ft-7 player and the next tallest is three inches shorter. Those numbers don't bode well for rebounding.

Junior center Josh Ellison led the way with 11 points for Oberlin, including three long jumpers.

Boley and Norris each chipped in 10 points and Boley had 7 steals.

Norris and senior Anthony Calloway both rank among the NCAC's top scorers with averages of 15.44 and 14.8 points per game.

Oberlin played Wittenberg without senior forward Mahidi Newman, who temporarily left the team. He has since returned.

The Yeomen have a layoff until Dec. 30 when they take on Adrian College. They play 13 more games before classes resume in February.

Boxing out: Forward John Norris shoots a free throw against Wittenberg. Noris is second on the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game. (Photo by Aya Kanai)