Basketball men win, make playoffs, lose

The men's basketball season is over after an 89-57 loss to Wittenberg University Tuesday in the first NCAC championship game the Yeomen have played in five years. The men made it to the championships as a result of a 67-52 win against Earlham College on Saturday.

The Earlham game was an example of how well the Yeomen can compete when properly motivated. "It was one of those games where you go in knowing you have to win," Coach Miguel Curl said. "The guys were able to pull it together."

The Yeomen jumped out early and soon were leading by 20. "At first it was a shock to everybody," sophomore forward John Norris said. "We'd all been there before, but not at Oberlin."

"We finally knew what it was like to be ahead by 20 and play like we were ahead 20," Curl said.

The team played a good game all around, with senior Darryl Seldon putting in five points, making three steals and grabbing 12 rebounds. Senior Mahidi Newman had 16 points to go with his 8 rebounds and junior Josh Ellison scored 16 and scooped up 9 rebounds. "I was really glad for Darryl, Mahidi and [Frank] Boley," Curl said. "They're guys who have been in the program a while. Jabali [Sawicki] had an outstanding game." The team played well defensively, keeping Earlham's shooting to 27 percent, while shooting 87 percent from the free-throw line. Free-throws have been a problem for the team throughout the season.

Curl compared the two teams physically and in terms of conference placement. "In size we're pretty evenly matched, we have a similar physical makeup. We have more overall talent." The two teams are also usually at the bottom of the standings. "We were able to play against a team similar to our team and play well," Curl said.

Curiously, there was no real post-game celebration. "After a big important game like this usually guys jump all over each other, but we didn't have any of that," Curl said. "We haven't had a lot of practice doing that, we were pretty overwhelmed."

Norris agreed, saying "It's been a long season and we were all really tired, but we still wanted to keep on going."

Norris kept going, opening up the Wittenberg game by draining a three. That was the only time Oberlin led though, as Wittenberg effectively obliterated any hopes of a championship win. This was not entirely unexpected, as Wittenberg is ranked 13th in the country and is a much bigger team.

"You could really see a difference in the type of athletes we had and the type of athletes they had," Curl said. "We'd sub in a 6-1 guy and they'd sub in a 6-6 guy."

"I think we were all fantasizing about an upset," Sawicki said, "but from the get-go they were really big and we let it go in the first five minutes."

"I never go into a game thinking I'm not going to win," Norris said. "Some of the other players were intimidated. If you give the other team too much respect, you're going to get punished." The team could also have been somewhat psyched out by the 1000-or-so fans and the darkened stands that lit the court like a stage.

Despite the results of the game, there was a game, and that is still, in its own right, very important. "It was a big game for the future of the program," Curl said. "It was a first step towards credibility with the program. We can tell recruits we were in the playoffs, and we can expect to be in the playoffs from now on."

Though conference standings would say otherwise, Curl is happy with the progress his team has made over the season. "Players stepped up and took on roles they haven't taken on in previous years. They had aggressiveness, camaraderie and intensity."

The coach also thinks that as a unit the team is much more functional than it was in November. "It was an evolutionary process from the beginning of the season to the end," he said. "At the beginning we had certain individuals who thought they could do it all themselves. They had to understand that there is no individualism in a team sport."

Curl is also pleased with individual growth displayed over the season. "The guys had a lot of fun and got along well as a team," he said. "They learned a lot about basketball and learned a lot as people. They're all better players than they were at the beginning."

"It was a huge improvement from last season," Norris said. "The coaching style was much different. We only lost greatly four times, the rest of the games were pretty much within 10. That was real frustrating."

"Anytime a team has a potential it's hard to lose," Sawicki said. "It's worse to lose when you know you can win."

The team's greatest losses will be Seldon and Newman. Both are outstanding all-around players with good numbers in every category. "They've been through a lot playing for Oberlin basketball," Sawicki said.

"They've been through the blowouts and the internal problems, but they just love to play. I've always sort of looked up to Mahidi as a mentor. He's a point guard and he has a lot of heart and plays hard. We'll miss their experience and leadership. It's been cool playing with them."

Seldon and Newman are the only two leaving and there should be a strong group of recruits. "Josh [Ellison], John, Boley and myself are all coming back, we'll have four starters back. It'll be a nice season." Norris is one main force to be reckoned with, as he made the All-NCAC second team, and Sawicki has really stepped up.

"Our success will be determined by how hard we work in the off-season," Sawicki said.

Curl likes what he sees in his Junior Varsity squad. "One of the things we have to do around here is work harder in the off-season," he said.

"If the guys do it, there will certainly be opportunities to start down the road. If they do well in practice and have a good game, they'll get a shot."