Oakland City, IN - On Saturday, the Mighty Oaks men's basketball team hosted the Eagles of Alice Lloyd College, owners of a 22-3 record, including a 13-2 mark in River States Conference play, and the second seed in the western division. After a back and forth game throughout, the Oakland City University side was able to battle through two overtime periods to take a 90-86 victory.
Oakland City opened up a 14 point lead with just over three minutes left in the first half, but the Eagles closed within two, scoring the final 11 points before the halftime horn, heading to the locker with the scoreboard reading 36-34 in favor of the Oaks. After a hard fought second half, the score was tied at 72-72, forcing extra time. Neither team was able to find any offensive rhythm in the extra five minutes, with ALC forcing a turnover to run out the clock with the score knotted again at 76-76. The Oaks proved ready for the challenge in the second overtime, outlasting the Eagles 90-86, to earn their ninth conference victory on the season against eight losses.
Needing just two points to become the 40th OCU men's basketball player to reach 1,000 career points,
Jacob Sanford wasted no time, scoring the game's first basket on OCU's first possession to reach the milestone. Sanford finished as the game's second leading scorer, with 21 points, on 7-9 shooting, trailing teammate JaMarcus Clark's 22 point effort off the bench.
DJ Redding added 14 counters, while
Abdul Wurie chipped in with 10. Clark also was OCU's leading rebounder with 10.
Damon Tobler led the way for the Eagles, coming up with 20 points and a game high 19 rebounds, including 13 offensive boards. Noah Young also posted 20 counters while dishing out a game high six assists. Bryce Slone and Cumecus Cates each tallied 11 points for the ALC side, while Will Philpot chipped in with nine points and 10 boards.
As a team, the Oaks made 33-71 (46.5%) from the field, including 6-15 (40.0%) from three point range. The Eagles connected on 31-88 (35.2%) of their field goal tries, going 6-23 (26.1%) from beyond the arc. OCU made 18-29 (62.1%) from the foul line compared to 18-31 (58.1%) by ALC.
Overall, Oakland City trailed 56-50 on the boards, including a 24-9 deficit on the offensive glass. The Oaks handed out 17 assists, compared to just eight for the Eagles, while committing 15 turnovers, five more than the visitors.
There were 14 lead changes overall, as well as 10 tied scores. OCU's 14 point lead with 3:14 left in the opening half was the largest lead by either team, as Alice Lloyd's largest came at the 4:43 mark in the second period, when they held a three point advantage. The Oaks trailed 46-36 in the paint, 14-10 in points scored off turnovers, and 17-13 in second chance points. However, OCU led 8-6 in fast break points, while the Oakland City bench outscored Alice Lloyd's 31-18.
The Mighty Oaks will be back in action on Wednesday, when they host Miami University-Middletown in the Johnson Center.
