The Oberlin College men’s basketball team ended its season by defeating Hiram College 69-66 on Saturday.
In the final appearance for the team’s four seniors, the largest crowd of the season helped propel the team to a come-from-behind victory.
Despite only trailing by two points at the half, the Yeomen had a hard time making a run to push the game wide open.
In a match-up of two evenly matched teams, Oberlin fought until the last second ticked off the clock.
While the play in the second half was comparable to the first, Oberlin managed to remain under control and hit big shots when they needed them most.
This important victory ended their season on a high note. With the win, Oberlin finished the season with a 3-22 overall record, 2-14 in conference play.
“You always want to end on a winning note,” head coach Frank Dobbs said after the victory. “Whenever you can end the season on a win, that’s nice.”
As for the present, the team is concentrating on schoolwork, though preparations for next year are already underway. A strict weight program along with a physical conditioning exercises has begun.
Coach Dobbs talked a little bit about next season and what he expects his players to be doing in the offseason.
“This is a time for returning players to get better physically,” he said.
In retrospect, the positive conclusion to the season gives the Yeomen something to both look back on and to look forward to in the summer months.
Unfortunately Oberlin will lose four seniors from the team, marking its biggest graduating class in some time.
Next year, some players will have to step up to replace Justin Perkins, Jon Macdonald, Steffon Thomas and Djordje Eremic.
Coach Dobbs is confident about some of the players he is targeting for larger roles next year.
“We think we are involved with some pretty good kids,” he said. “If we are able to have the veterans develop and add variety, we could compete right away.”
In a season fraught with uncertainty and frustrating losses, the team on the court at the end of the season finally came together and persevered for a common cause.
“It was nice to win the last game of my life,” senior guard Justin Perkins said.