Great Midwest Digital Network Replay
Quincy vs Findlay (Produced by UFTV)
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team opened up the 2024-25 campaign at home on Friday, Nov. 8, going on to earn a 97-79 victory against the Quincy University Hawks, the first game of the season for each squad.
Debuting a new style of play, the Oilers fast-paced approach to the contest led to the most points by a Findlay basketball team in a season-opener since a 105-point performance against Marygrove back in 2013.
The Oilers,which saw five players make their collegiate debut on Friday, turned up the pressure early on, racking up five steals in the first ten minutes of play, taking a 21-14 advantage at the midway point of the first half. That pressure continued in the final ten minutes for Findlay, which forced Quincy into seven turnovers down the stretch and outscored the Hawks by ten to take a 50-33 lead into the break.
Findlay's lead would balloon to 23 points just three minutes into the second half when freshman Ian Ioppolo drilled a triple to put UF ahead 63-40.
Quincy, rattled by the speed at which the Oilers forced them to play, could not mount any sort of comeback the remainder of the contest and went on to an 18-point defeat.
It was a hot-shooting night for the Oilers who would finish 36-of-70 (51.4%) from the floor while Quincy shot 29-of-61 (47.5%). UF connected on 14-of-36 (38.9%) of its' three-point attempts and, despite losing the rebound battle 39-to-30, forced the Hawks into 26 turnovers, the most miscues forced the Findlay since December of 2019. Of those 26 turnovers forced, 18 of them were steals, also the most since 2019.
Those turnovers quickly transitioned into points for the Oilers, which racked up 32 points off turnovers and 24 fast break points.
Junior Jagger Landers led the way for Findlay, scoring a career-high 20 points in the season-opener. He drilled four triples in the game, second only to freshman Ian Ioppolo who poured in five three-pointers on the way to a 19-point effort in his Oilers' debut.
Sophomore Jake Bishop, who redshirted last season, scored 12 points in his first-ever action while sophomore Will Aljancic, plagued by early foul trouble, chipped in 11 points and led the team with six rebounds.
Three players had at least three steals, led by junior Max Roth who had five takeaways. Senior Josh Thorbahn had four steals and five assists while sophomore Anthony Johnson had three steals, a team-high six assists, and scored nine points.
Findlay is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9, for a 3:00 pm start against Truman State.
