The Oberlin College men’s basketball team has gotten off to a slow start this season. After two weeks, the Yeomen are still searching for their first victory to offset their 0-5 start.
To open their season, the Yeomen traveled to Columbus to participate in the Capital Classic hosted by Capital University. Despite holding leads early in both of the weekend games, Oberlin fell to Concordia University of Wisconsin on Nov. 22 by a score of 72-55 and dropped a 75-45 decision to Concordia-Moorhead of Minnesota on Nov. 23.
Both of the games were extremely close in the early going, but Oberlin wore down due to its lack of players. Turnovers and a minimal number of assists in both contests proved to hinder the offensive output of the team.
“I think we are getting better. We need to improve on our free throw shooting and cut down on our turnovers. We have a bunch of guys accepting new roles who are not used to accepting those certain roles,” head coach Happy Dobbs explained.
On Nov. 26, the Yeomen swung back into action and this time they traveled to Cleveland to face Notre Dame College. In what turned out to be a very tight game, the Yeomen once again could not escape their mistakes, falling by a final score of 72-62. The 62 point total was their highest output of the season to date. After this loss, Oberlin’s record slid to 0-3.
Play in the first three games was highlighted by standout performances from junior post Bosko Tomasevic and senior wing guard Djordje Eremic.
Last weekend, Oberlin College traveled to Hanover, Ind., to participate in the John R. Collier Basketball Tournament. On Friday, Oberlin faced the Hanover Panthers. Hanover, ranked 16th in the nation in the most recent rankings, proved to be as tough as expected.
After trailing by nineteen points at the half, Oberlin’s lack of players, along with poor ball handling, hindered their efforts at a second half comeback. Senior post player Jon MacDonald was serving the second of a two game institutionalized suspension which left Oberlin thin in the post for its game against the powerful Panthers. Hanover pulled away in the second-half and won the game 85-56.
In the consolation game of the event, Oberlin faced Albion College of Michigan. Oberlin played an extremely aggressive first half, but found themselves down 40-37 at halftime. The Britons had 14 different players getting minutes and eventually wore the Yeomen down. Oberlin once again kept the game close, but Albion came out on top, 85-60.
“This weekend was a bit frustrating,” senior captain Justin Perkins said.
Although the season has gotten off to a rough start, Dobbs feels his team is hustling on the defensive side of the ball.
“Our half-court defense has been very good. Our goal is to get better with each practice and each game,” he said.
After the first five games, junior Bosko Tomasevic leads the team in scoring, averaging 14 points per contest, while first-year Brandon Crawford leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per game.

On Saturday, Oberlin will face conference opponent Earlham College. This will mark Oberlin’s final game of the semester. They will be back in action Dec. 28 when they face Manchester College of Indiana. After a split last season with the Quakers, Oberlin is hungry to snap their five game losing streak and avenge their loss from last year.
“We are hoping to get off to a 1-0 start in the league. Hopefully we can play up to our potential,” Perkins added.