Men's b-ball closing gaps

The Yeomen fell in their first conference game Thursday at the College of Wooster 83-65, which was picked to be one of the top teams in the NCAC this year.

For the 1-3 Oberlin team, which has a similar personnel but a different style from last year, the Wooster game was a measure of how things could go in the season.

Saturday, the Yeomen will play the conference's preseason favorite Wittenberg in the Oberlin home opener.

Oberlin played Wooster without senior point guard Darryl Seldon, who has been Oberlin's floor leader and without senior Mahidi Newman, a starting forward. Seldon is out with an ankle injury and is questionable for this weekend's game, the last before a three-week lay-off.

Sophomore Rich Santiago got seven points and three assists in his first start of the season in Seldon's absence, a noticeable absence. Seldon is a versatile player who can play almost every position on the floor. "If Darryl doesn't score a point, he still gives something to the team," coach Miguel Curl said.

Newman left the team for personal reasons Wednesday, but Curl is hoping he'll come back. "We really need him," Curl said.

The two missing players have been important all year in many areas, including rebounding. Without them, the Yeomen were outrebounded 42-23. And the team hit just 13 of 27 free throws. "We'll be shooting free throws today until our arms fall off," Curl said.

Oberlin took a six point deficit into the lockerroom at halftime but was unable to close the gap. Top performances came with senior Anthny Calloway's 17 points and sophomore John Norris' 14.

After opening with a pair of losses at the Capital Invitational Tournament, the team bounced back Nov. 26 with a 92-88 win at Thiel College, a team that spanked the Yeomen 86-59 a year ago.

Oberlin's 92 points were the most an Oberlin team has scored since 1991.

Oberlin was paced by strong post play against Thiel. Sophomore forward John Norris scored 27 points and junior center Josh Ellison put in 23.

Ellison's total included hitting 11 of 20 free throws. The team went to the line 44 times - but hit just 26.

Senior guard Anthony Calloway also scored 23, enough to make him the 16th Oberlin player ever to score over 1,000 points for his career.

"We got John on the left and Josh on the right. I could even disappear and be a passer and that would be better," said Calloway, who led the team in scoring in each of the past three seasons.

In the first half at Thiel, Curl ran wholesale substitutions.

In the Yeomen's opening game in Columbus Nov. 22-23, the Yeomen were down 32-30 at the half and kept the game close until the last few minutes before late-game free throws helped host Capital win 82-66.

Seldon scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed seven boards, which tied Norris for the team lead.

Calloway chipped in 16 points and four assists against Capital.

The Yeomen practiced just 12 hours after their gametime the next morning, which Curl blames in part for the lethargic play to open in the tournament's consolation game against Thomas More College. At halftime, the Yeomen were down 54-20. The second half was even, with Thomas More outscoring Oberlin 44-43.

Calloway led the team with 17 points and Norris scored 13. Norris and Ellison each grabbed six rebounds.

Curl wants to get more Oberlin players scoring. The Thiel game had the most players scoring high. Junior guard Frank Boley put up nine, nine, seven and eight points in the four contests.

The team has been closer in games with teams that dominated it last year.

"Most coaches say they want to be better than last year," Curl said. "We're half way there."