Oakland City, IN - Following three games on the road where the Mighty Oaks basketball team won over Boyce College (94-80) and lost against NAIA #1 Georgetown College (145-108) and Simmons College of Kentucky (92-71), the Oakland City University men hosted the Tigers of Salem University.
After trailing by just five points, at 40-35, with 4:37 left until halftime, OCU saw their deficit balloon, entering the locker room trailing 65-38. The Oaks fought to try to get back in the game, but were unable to overcome the Tigers, losing 125-96.
Tyler Toopes closed to within four points of 1,000 in his OCU career, scoring a team best 26 points, while also leading the team with eight rebounds and three steals.
Nathaniel Schmittler tallied 19, followed by 15 from
DJ Redding.
Jacob Sanford posted 14 counters, all in the second half, while
Kase Robinson came up with seven points, five rebounds and a game high eight assists.
The Tigers had five players score in double digits, led by the 27 point effort of Fonz Hale, who made 10-12 from the field, going 5-7 from three point range. Aleksa Dobrijevic added 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots off the bench, while Jordan Forbes also had a double-double, scoring 18 and grabbing a game high 12 rebounds. Shawn Christian added 17, followed by Stan Smith, who scored 13.
As a team, OCU shot 35-83 (42.2%) from the field, including 9-33 (27.3%) from three point range. The Tigers made 47-82 (57.3%) of their shot attempts, going 21-43 (48.8%) from beyond the arc. The Oaks made 17-21 (81.0%) from the foul line, compared to 10-13 (76.9%) for Salem University.
For the game, each team hauled in 43 rebounds, with OCU holding a 13-8 edge on the offensive glass. The Oaks handed out 28 assists and turned the ball over 12 times, while the Tigers had 25 assists and 11 turnovers.
The Oaks are scheduled to play the rest of their regular season in the Johnson Center, where they have a record of 7-3 this year. Salem and OCU will square off again tomorrow, tipping off at 1:00 pm.
