Oakland City, IN - In what proved to be a tough battle in the Johnson Center, the Mighty Oaks basketball team, looking to end a three-game skid, hosted the Maple Leafs of Goshen College. After leading for most of the first half, the Oaks trailed 41-37 at the halftime break. Goshen pushed their lead to as many as 16 points in the second period, but OCU surged back to force the game into overtime, where they were able to come away with the win, 89-87.
With under eight seconds left in the overtime period,
Kase Robinson tipped in a missed shots for what proved to be the winning score, his only two points of the contest.
Nathaniel Schmittler was the game's leader in scoring and rebounds, notching 30 points and grabbing 16 boards.
Jacob Sanford tallied 19 counters, while
Tyler Camplin came off the bench to post 16 points to go with three blocked shots, equal to Schmittler for the team lead.
Tahj Curry led the way for the Leafs, scoring 23 points, while handing out 11 assists. Ryan Mansbarger added 22 counters, while Austin Branagan put up 20. Mansbarger and Phillip Hughes each had seven boards to lead Goshen, while Hughes had a game high four blocked shots.
For the game, OCU shot 31-77 (40.3%) from the field, including 6-17 (35.3%) from three point range. Goshen connected on 33-66 (50.0%) of their shot attempts, going 9-30 (30.0%) from beyond the arc. The Oaks made 21-30 (70.0%) from the free throw line, compared to 12-28 (42.9%) for the visiting Maple Leafs.
The Mighty Oaks held a 53-41 rebounding advantage, including a 16-8 lead on the offensive glass. OCU handed out 18 assists and committed 16 turnovers, while Goshen had 16 assists and turned the ball over 18 times. There were five ties and five lead changes in the game.
OCU will be back in action on Saturday, January 2, when they travel to Upland, Indiana, to take on the Trojans of Taylor University. Game time is set for 2:00 pm central time.
