Tough Season Comes to an End for Young Basketball Team

Men Unable to Pass Last Year's Meager Win Total

For many basketball teams, March is much like a childhood Christmas. A quasi-mythical personage commonly known as "the committee" checks its list twice to see who has been good all year. Coaches offer enticements, except rather than snacks set upon the kitchen table, they are sound bites set upon sports scribes. Everyone gathers anxiously together, waiting to see whom the committee will choose to reward. The only real difference, in fact, is that the committee gives out more lumps of coal than Santa Claus. With a 75-50 trouncing of the Oberlin men's basketball team last Saturday, 10-6 Earlham College (11-14 overall, 10-6 NCAC) unwrapped its fourth-seed NCAC tournament draw and left the Yeomen an early off-season to sweep the coal dust out of the cellar.

To be fair, even a win over Earlham would not have given Oberlin a post-season tournament invitation. But a victory would have been welcome nevertheless, and it didn't seem out of the question. Although wins have been admittedly sparse for the Yeomen this year, competition between the two teams has been fierce over the years, and a few Yeomen victories have come at the expense of Earlham. Moreover, a fresh victory over conference rival Kenyon College served to give the Yeomen faithful hope that defeat was hardly a foregone conclusion for the Yeomen, who finished 2-22 overall, 2-14 NCAC.

For most of the first half, the Yeomen scrapped behind the efforts of junior guard Maurice Elrod who finished with 14 points and four assists. With 8:01 remaining in the first half, Earlham led by only five points, 22-17. Oberlin then faltered, scoring only another 10 points before halftime, six of those coming from Elrod. Earlham took advantage of Oberlin's miscues and rolled out to a 13-point halftime lead

Thirteen points, however disappointing, is not insurmountable. But Earlham had no intention of allowing a comeback. In the first four minutes after halftime, Earlham went on a 10-2 run. Down 50-29 with 15:58 remaining, the Yeomen called a time-out to regroup. After talking it over, they went on a 13-8 run of their own, pulling to within 16 points with 7:44 remaining. Earlham then took a time-out, and pulled back out to a 26-point lead, 72-47, with 4:21 remaining. The final moments of the game witnessed nothing crazy, and Earlham walked away 75-50 victors.

Although Oberlin ends its season with only two wins and without a tournament invitation, the situation facing the Yeomen is not quite as bleak as it might seem. The team is not losing anyone to graduation, and their returning starters have begun to make their mark on the conference. Elrod, for one, has developed into one of the most lethal guards in the NCAC, ranking fifth in scoring with 15.8 pts/gm and seventh in assists with 3.4 per game. When told of Elrod's success, junior post Zeljko Petrovic was happy but unsurprised: "Mo has had a great season. We (the players) don't get to vote, but he should definitely be elected to the first or second all-conference team." Petrovic ended up an NCAC leader himself, stroking 78.9 percent of his fouls shots, placing fifth in the conference. Junior post Brian Buchanan developed into one the team's greatest assets during the second half the season, leading the team in rebounds. Furthermore, former stand-out James Knight is expected to return to the floor from his one-year hiatus.

The biggest problem facing this year's squad, according to Petrovic, was "lack of depth, especially at the guard position. If we can get one or two point guards," he said, "we will be much better next season." It is thought that the off-season will address the Yeomen's depth woes with as many as 10 recruits. Among these recruits, it is said, reside a few talented point guards.

The NCAC long has been dominated by a few teams. Wooster, Wittenberg, and Allegheny terrorize the rest of the conference year in and year out. When asked about the prospects for next season, Elrod astutely noted that the reign of these schools over the rest of the conference is due to end: "There should be a lot of parity in the league next year. The stronger schools in the conference are loaded with seniors, and so they are graduating a lot of starters." Moreover, Elrod says that the bottom half of the conference is rising. "Many of the weaker teams in the conference are getting stronger... Earlham was like us last year. This year, they beat Wittenberg, and that just doesn't happen...Unlike the stronger schools, we are returning starters next year, and we will be bolstered by a big, talented recruiting class. We should be much, much better next season."

This season marks the third and final year of Coach Satchel "Satch" Sullinger's contract. A review committee will interview athletes, athletic department members, and two outside members from the faculty committee. The committee may offer Sullinger another three-year contract, an extension to his existing contract, or not offer any contract. Sullinger's review will "probably happen within the next two months," Athletic Director Michael Muska says. Although Sullinger's coaching record at Oberlin is far from remarkable, one does not find widespread dissent with his program. Various sources believe that he will probably return to coach Oberlin next season.