Oakland City, IN - After a difficult start to the season, Oakland City University's men's basketball team is turning things around. The Mighty Oaks won their third straight game, downing the Hilltoppers of Ohio University-Chillicothe for the second day in a row. This time, OCU turned a 57-28 halftime lead into a 108-76 victory, improving to 4-9 on the year.
Nathaniel Schmittler made 8-11 from the field, leading the Oaks in both scoring and rebounding, with 22 points and 11 boards.
Tyler Toopes added 21 counters, followed by 15 each by
Jacob Sanford and
Trevor Eppert.
J.D. Hoover rounded out five Oaks in double figures, posting 13 points, while
Austin Ladd came up with 10 rebounds.
The Hilltoppers had a pair of players reach double digits in scoring, as Aaron Benson and Gabriele Chiossi each came off the bench to score a game high 26. Benson went 9-17 from the field, including 6-9 from three point range, while Chiossi made 11-18 of this shots, going 4-7 from long range.
As a team, OCU connected on 37-80 (46.3%) of their shot attempts, going 6-23 (26.1%) from three point range. Ohio University-Chillicothe made 30-82 (36.6%) of their field goal tries, including 11-36 (30.6%) from distance. The Oaks went 28-39 (71.8%) from the foul line, compared to 5-8 (62.5%) for the visiting Hilltoppers.
Oakland City held a 63-37 rebounding advantage, including a 22-11 edge on the offensive boards. OCU handed out 25 assists, compared to 11 for OU-Chillicothe, while losing the turnover battle 12-11.
The Mighty Oaks will carry their 4-9 record into their final game of the 2019 calendar year when they travel to Owensboro, Kentucky, to take on the Bearcats of Brescia University on Tuesday, December 17. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
