KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team opened its home schedule with a tough battle against Oberlin on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 19). An 18-8 run by the Yeomen late in the second half was the difference as the Hornets fell 73-67.
In a defensive battle for the first 10 minutes of the ball game, Oberlin held the 12-2 advantage. Then, Kalamazoo started chipping away to get the deficit to three with five points by Josh Decker and a three-point bucket by Addison Atwater. The teams traded baskets as the half was winding down. A jump shot by Caleb Caul got the Hornets to within five as the scoreboard read 32-27 in favor of Oberlin heading into the locker room.
The offense started to heat up for both teams in the second half as both teams shot over 40% from three-point land. The Yeomen extended their lead to nine early, but Kalamazoo always had an answer to cut the lead back to three with 12 minutes remaining. Another quick six points by Ty Horky and a long-range three from Caul tied the game up at 49 with eight minutes on the clock. Unfortunately, this is where Oberlin started pulling away with that 18-8 run that gave the Yeomen a 10-point advantage with 1:19 remaining. The Hornets tried extending the game down the stretch by putting Oberlin on the free throw line, but it was not enough as Kalamazoo took a six-point defeat.
Decker led all scorers with 21 points by hitting four three-pointers and going seven of eight from the charity stripe. He also led the Hornets in the rebounding department at five. DJ Courtney was the only other Hornet in double figures at 11 points.
Lukas Broadsword and Horky led the team with three assists a piece. Seven other Hornets scored at least a bucket as Horkey (9), Caul (8), Broadsword (6), Bobby Samples (5), Atwater (3), Carter Bandemer (2), and JJ Stevens (2) all contributed to the scoring column.
Oberlin hit 46.9% of their shots compared to Kalamazoo's 41.8%, but the Hornets held a slight advantage from three at 42.3%. The Yeomen finished with more rebounds (37-26), assists (14-12), and blocks (2-1), with both teams recording six steals a piece. In addition, the Hornets held advantages in points off turnovers (18-13), second chance points (13-9), and bench points (43-20).
Kalamazoo will be back in action with a road game on Wednesday (Nov. 30) at Chicago, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.