Oakland City, IN - After battling to a 48-42 halftime lead against fellow River States Conference member Carlow University, the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City University were able to hold on to the lead throughout the entire game. Despite a number of rallies by the visiting Celtics, OCU was able to hold on, winning by the final score of 93-83, improving to 3-4 in RSC play, 4-13 overall.
Allen Sims paced the Oaks, scoring 19 points, on 7-11 shooting, followed closely by
Nathaniel Schmittler, who posted 18 counters, on an efficient 8-9 field goal tries.
DJ Redding added 13, going 4-6 from the field, while
Tyquez Priester chipped in with 11, followed by JaMarcus Clark's 10 point effort. Redding and Priester joined
Abdul Wurie with a team high of five rebounds apiece, while Wurie blocked three shots to lead the game.
Marcus Millien led the way for the Celtics, scoring a game high 26 points, on 10-23 shooting, including 4-9 from three point range. Malcolm Randall added 17 counters, going 6-11 from the field, including 4-7 from long range, while Nate O'Savage and Darien Matthew each posted 11 points in the loss. Millien also pulled down a game high in rebounds, nabbing nine missed shots.
As a team, OCU connected on 34-63 (54.0%) of their shot attempts, including 5-20 (25.0%) from beyond the arc. Carlow made 31-65 (47.7%) of their field goal tries, scoring on 13-27 (48.1%) from distance. The Oaks went 20-28 (71.4%) from the foul line, while the Celtics made 8-14 (57.1%) of their free tries.
Rebounds were 39-30 in favor of the Oaks, with OCU leading 9-7 on the offensive glass. Oakland City led in assists (18-17), steals (9-6), blocked shots (5-2), and turnovers (12-16).
Next up for the Mighty Oaks is a home contest against the Pioneers of Point Park University, in the Johnson Center, on Saturday, January 8, tipping off at 1:00 pm.
