Yeomen Capture First Road Win

Win Over Wabash Gives Yeomen 7-15 Record

by Ian Haynes

It has been a goal of Oberlin’s men’s basketball team all year to get at least one road win.

With only two away games left in the season, the Yeomen were bound and determined to win at least one of the two. Their first opportunity to do so came last Saturday when they traveled to Indiana to take on Wabash College.
The Yeomen’s determination paid off with an 87-75 win, improving their record to 7-15 and giving them their fourth conference victory.

In the first meeting of the two teams earlier this year, Wabash jumped out to an early 26-4 lead before Oberlin battled back, cutting it to a four point deficit at the half. 
This time around it was the Yeomen that jumped out to the early lead, starting the game with an 8-2 run.

“People have been calling us the comeback kids,” sophomore Jon MacDonald said. “We always get down a lot, then have to fight our way back into the game.”
On the second play of the game, senior James Knight tied the game at two with a dunk on a pass from senior teammate Maurice Elrod.

“We try to start the game with an exciting play that will get us pumped, and when [Knight] dunked it, we were off,” MacDonald said.
Elrod hit a jump shot the next time down the court, giving Oberlin the lead 4-2.

Oberlin was up by as much as 13 in the first half, at 23-10 on a three by sophomore Djordje Eremic, but Wabash battled back late in the first half, pulling to within one point with a minute to go.
With the score standing 33-32 in favor of Oberlin, and 10 seconds to go in the first half, Elrod missed a three point shot but grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a jumper to end the first half at 35-32 in favor of the Yeomen.

Going into the half, Elrod had provided most of the offense for the Yeomen, scoring 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field.
Knight extended Oberlin’s lead to five to open the second half when he scored on a layup off a steal by first-year Cameron Leverett. The next time down the court, it was Knight slamming home two points to put the lead back at five, 39-34.

With just over 16 minutes to play in the game, Wabash went on an 8-0 run to briefly take the lead 46-43. That lead would last under a minute as Oberlin shot right back with baskets by Elrod and Knight.

The Yeomen watched their lead grow to nine with just under six minutes to play when first-year Julius Hill hit a three off a pass from sophomore Justin Perkins.

With two and a half minutes to go in the game and the lead standing at 10, Wabash resorted to fouling in hopes of getting back into the game. It wouldn’t happen though, as Oberlin hit 17 of 18 free throws, most of them down the stretch, to hold on for the win 87-75.
“One of the first stats we looked at in the locker room after the game was free throw shooting,” MacDonald said. “There were times earlier in the year where we weren’t even shooting 50 percent from the line. We have made an effort in practice to shoot free throws and it’s paying off.”

On Wednesday the Yeomen traveled to Gambier, Ohio to take on Kenyon College. Going into the game, Oberlin was sitting in a three-way tie with Kenyon and Hiram for sixth place in the conference.
To win this game the Yeomen had to play big, box out and grab rebounds and shut down junior Chad Plotke.

The Yeomen were unsuccessful in their attempt at back to back road wins, losing to Kenyon 82-62.
The last regular season game for the Yeomen and the last home game for seniors Elrod, Knight and Jordan Kaltman will be Saturday against Earlham College. A win could be the difference in the Yeomen making the NCAC playoffs. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
“This promises to be a very special night,” Coach Mike Cavey said.