Returning to competition for the first time in nearly three weeks, the Kenyon College Lords struggled to find their shooting stroke and dropped a 77-66 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) basketball game to the visiting Oberlin College Yeomen on Jan. 8.
The game, played Saturday, was originally scheduled for Feb. 9 but moved up to replace the contest that the Lords had to postpone with Wittenberg University due to COVID-19 issues.
With the win, Oberlin completed the season sweep of Kenyon and improved its record to 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference. The loss dropped the Lords to 2-10 overall and 0-5 in NCAC play.
For the most part, the teams played evenly. Oberlin, however, connected on its shots at a rate of 51.9% (27 of 52), while Kenyon shot 36.1% (26 of 72). From three-point range, Oberlin fired at 43.5% (10 of 23), while Kenyon went 33.3% (9 of 27).
Although the game was tight, Oberlin maintained the lead for the majority of minutes. The Yeomen jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 10-4, but a three-pointer from Sam Walch tied the game at 10-10. A few minutes later, another three-ball, this one from Kamal Aubakirov, tied the game at 17-17. Dylan Fuerst then followed with free throws to give the Lords their first lead of the game.
Over the last few minutes of the first half, Oberlin inched ahead by three and then raced to the buzzer on a 10-5 run that put the score at 39-31 at the break. Throughout the first half, Dimitrije Radusinovic carried the Yeomen by going 8-for-9, scoring 20 points, and grabbing eight rebounds.
The Lords slowed Radusinovic down in the second half, but Wolf Moser came to life with a trio of three-pointers. Moser also connected on 7 of 8 free throw attempts over the final minute to seal the win for Oberlin.
Prior to the conclusion, Kenyon pulled within two points around the 9-minute mark but never could regain the lead. The final margin of 11 points was the widest of the game.
Radusinovic ended up with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds for Oberlin. Moser finished with 21 points, and Anastasis Spyroglou rounded out the double-digit Yeomen scorers with 11 points.
Kenyon got 14 points from both Miles Versa and Alex Boyd, who logged his first collegiate start. Dylan Osimetha added 10 more for the Lords, and Walch, who scored nine, led the team with seven rebounds.
