Oakland City, IN - After losing ten straight games, the Mighty Oaks men's basketball team looked to turn things around against the Bearcats of Brescia University. The Bearcats entered the matchup with a record of 4-6, 2-2 in the River States Conference, while the Oaks held a 1-12 overall mark, 1-4 in conference play. After a slim 26-24 halftime lead, OCU managed to hold on to their margin, winning by the final score of 62-60.
There were a total of five ties and nine lead changes what proved to be a close contest throughout, with neither team leading by more than ten points.
With a four-point lead, at 58-54, with just under three minutes to play, OCU saw their chance to pull out their second win of the season. Brescia cut the lead to two points at the 1:55 mark, then took the lead on a three-pointer with just 0:50 left on the clock.
DJ Redding regained the lead for the Oaks with a driving layup with 24 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing play,
Abdul Wurie was called for a blocking foul, sending Brescia's Ricky Shuford to the line with seven seconds left on the clock. After missing the first attempt, Shuford evened the score by making the second. The inbound pass was thrown in to Redding, who took the ball the length of the floor, then dished it off to an open Wurie, who layed it in with two seconds left.
After Michael Caswell's half-court shot at the buzzer rimmed off, the Oaks improved to 2-12, including 2-4 in RSC play, while the Bearcats fall to 4-8, 2-3 in the conference.
Allen Sims led all scorers in the contest, posting 18 points on 8-15 shooting, while Redding added 13 counters on 5-7 from the field. Wurie had eight points while joining Allen with a game-high eight rebounds.
Jalen Rose paced the Bearcats, scoring 16 points on 5-14 shooting, followed by 12 points each from Ricky Shuford and Tam Smith. Rose and Shuford each grabbed six boards to lead Brescia in the loss.
As a team, Oakland City made 26-57 (45.6%) from the field, including 5-15 (33.3%) from three point range, while Brescia connected on 21-51 (41.2%) including 7-15 (46.7%) from beyond the arc. OCU scored on 5-8 (62.5%) from the foul line, compared to 11-14 (78.6%) for the visiting Bearcats, despite a foul discrepancy of 17-9 in favor of the Oaks.
OCU held a 36-27 rebounding advantage, including a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. However, Brescia outscored the Oaks 9-3 in second chance points, while the Mighty Oaks held a 36-20 lead in points in the paint. Oakland City handed out 14 assists, three more than the Bearcats, while committing 17 turnovers, one more than their opponents.
Next up for the Mighty Oaks is the Dunn Hospitality Group Classic, held in the Johnson Center. OCU will take on Trinity International University on December 29, tipping off at 6:00 pm, then square off against Lawrence Tech the following day, scheduled for a 4:00 tip.
