Oakland City, IN- The Mighty Oaks, under new head coach
Ken French, fell in their first game to nationally ranked Grace College. The game opened up with a big three-pointer from newcomer JaMarcus Clark as the Oaks took the early lead. The students were loud and the crowd showed up for the home opener for the Oaks. The Oaks and Lancers traded baskets back and forth before the halftime buzzer sounded. At Halftime, the Oaks held a 30-29 lead heading into the locker room. Leading in the first half for the Oaks was JaMarcus Clark with 8 points followed by
Nathaniel Schmittler and
Allen Sims with 6. Freshman forward
Ikechi Ajukwa led the Oaks with 5 rebounds. Leading the Lancers at the half was Frankie Davidson with 10 points, and Ian Scott with 8 boards.
The second half started off slow for the Oaks as their 1 point lead faded quickly with a 6-0 run by the Knights before Schmittler broke the run with a huge and-one layup. The fight was tough between the two teams as the game remained close the whole way. Baskets continued back and forth before the Lancers went on another run opening their lead to the largest it was all night, 12 points. The Oaks made a little comeback as they brought the deficeit to 6 points with two minutes left. As the final horn sounded, the Oaks fell by a score of 64-74. This was the lowest amount of points that the Lancers had scored all season.
JaMarus Clark led the Oaks in scoring with 22 points followed by
Nathaniel Schmittler with 17 counters. Schmittler and Ajukwa rallied the boards with 7 each. Sophomore Dj Redding dished the ball with 3 assists. The Oaks shot 33 percent from the field and 17 percent from three point land. Leading the Lancers was Frankie Davidson with 25 and Elijah Malone with 20. Davidson also led the Lancers in boards with 10. The Lancers shot 54 percent from the field and shot 0 percent from 3 point land.
The Oaks are on the road next as they travel to Campbellsville-Harrodsburg on Monday.
