Men’s Basketball Defeats Hiram College, 83-81
by Benjamin Pred

The Oberlin men’s basketball team won their first game of the year in their North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) season debut at Hiram College’s Price Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 1 in a nail-biting, 83-81 victory. Though they booted the Terriers, the team had a tough loss on Wednesday to the Denison Big Red, 73-68. The team’s NCAC record now stands even at 1-1.
In the first game, Hiram controlled the court for the first half by moving ahead to a quick nine-point lead. Oberlin came back strong, however, and was winning at the half by a two-point margin. Seven minutes into the second half, Hiram went up by two off of a jumpshot by senior Matt Hill. The lead went back and forth for the next five minutes of play until the Yeomen went up by five points after a quick baseline layup by sophomore Bosko Tomasevic. The Terriers began to get frustrated and started committing many fouls on the Yeomen, who were able to capitalize on the free throws (Oberlin had 29 free-throw shots in the second half compared to seven in the first). Hiram never fully recovered from the Yeomen’s free-throw barrage, through they did go on a six-point run in the final seconds to make the finish a close one. The Yeomen were 26 of 36 from the foul line in the game for a solid 72 percent clip, a mark that proved to be the difference in the game.
Sophomore Cameron Leverett and senior Ric Pierce each posted 12 points for the Yeomen, and Leverett also swiped three steals. However, the star of the day for Oberlin was sophomore Julius Hill, who amassed 25 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Tomasevic scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in just over 10 minutes of play.
About the victory, Hill said, “It felt really good to start out the conference play like that. We still need to work on rebounding. That’s number one.”
Head Coach Mike Cavey was pleased with the team’s performance in the first game, saying, “[We] put up a good effort, but these guys really need to develop a killer instinct — we need to bear down on teams when we’ve got them beat.”
The team’s second game of the year against Denison had the same atmosphere of a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, except Phillips Gym’s seats were less comfortable and the hecklers’ taunts were more virulent.
The Yeomen began the game in control of the perimeter and point, maintaining a narrow lead for most of the first half. Only on a free throw by Denison’s Perry Young did the Big Red catch up to the Yeomen, at a score of 23-23.
Unlike the Hiram contest, in which free throws saved the day for the Yeomen, Oberlin shot very badly from the charity stripe against the Big Red, shooting 10-25 in the first half. Although one could hear more cries of “push!” from the referees than from the maternity wing of a hospital in April, the Yeomen could not capitalize on Red’s hacking.
The Big Red shot equally badly from the free throw line, making the second half a tight race all the way to the finish. However, after a string of baskets by senior Charlie DeLacy, the Big Red took the lead with five minutes remaining and never relented it. Junior Djordje Eremic, who had 12 points in the game, hit a three-pointer for the Yeomen with 13 seconds remaining to place them within two points of the Big Red, but Oberlin failed to stop the inbounds pass and had to resort to fouling to get one last possession.
However, despite a pair of free throws by sophomore Chris Ikpoh, who led the Yeomen in scoring with 25 points, the Yeomen trailed by five points when they got the ball back after a desperation shot by Eremic. Oberlin fell by the score of 73-68. Ikpoh also snagged seven rebounds for the Yeomen, while Tomasevic led the team with 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Through six games, Ikpoh is leading the Yeomen in scoring 17.3 points per game, while Hill is second with 13.5 points per game. Tomasevic leads the team in rebounding with 10 boards per contest, while Ikpoh has snagged six and a half rebounds per game. At point guard, Leverett has averaged eight and a half points per game this season and is the team leader in assists, averaging just under three per game.
Although the Yeomen are off to a rather slow 1-5 start, they will have a chance to improve their record in the win column with seven home and 15 total games over winter break and Winter Term.
Oberlin will travel to face conference opponent Earlham (Ind.) tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m., and will travel to Wilmington this coming Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m. to close out the teams’ games before Christmas break. The Yeomen will play home games over break on Dec. 29 versus Manchester (Ind.) at 3 p.m., Jan. 5 vs. Wittenberg at 3 p.m., Jan. 7 vs. Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 12 vs. Ohio Wesleyan at 3 p.m., Jan. 19 vs. Wabash (Ind.) at 2 p.m., Jan. 26 vs. Hiram at 7:30 p.m. and on Feb. 2 vs. Earlham (Ind.) at 1 p.m.


December 6
February 2002

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