Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team, ranked no. 25 in the country, overcame a slow start on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Croy Gymnasium, taking down Goshen College Maple Leafs by a score of 97-64. The game was played as an exhibition for Goshen, but with the win, Findlay improves to 10-1 overall.
Taking on an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program that has just four wins this season and last year, went 0-28 on the year, the Oilers were clearly the overwhelming favorite on Saturday afternoon and, over the first two minutes, they played like it.
Findlay started the game on an 11-0 run, but then a 20-9 stretch by GC over the next eight minutes tied the game at 20-20.
Goshen would hang around as the game remained tied at 36-36 with two minutes to go and ultimately went into halftime with the Oilers ahead by just five points at 41-36.
In that opening half, Findlay made just 5-of-21 from three-point range and were outrebounded 22-to-17 which helped keep the Leafs in the game.
The second half was a much different story as the Oilers hit 8-of-13 from deep, outrebounded GC by eight, and forced the visitors into 11 turnovers, outscoring Goshen by 28 in the period.
Findlay finished 35-of-68 (52%) from the floor while hitting 13-of-34 (38%) from three-point range. Rebounding was nearly even but, facing intense pressure from the Oilers, Goshen was unable to control the ball, committing 20 turnovers.
Playing in his first career game with the Oilers, junior Mekhi Elmore poured in 20 points to lead all scorers. He made 4-of-5 from deep and grabbed five rebounds in his debut.
Junior Will Aljancic led the team with eight rebounds and scored 13 points while sophomore Jake Bishop scored 13 points and had three steals. Freshman Ian Ioppolo also reached double figures with 12 points.
Sophomore Anthony Johnson and junior Mason Brandt each had five assists.
The Oilers are now off until 2025, playing their next game on January 2 at home against Tiffin. That game will tip off at 7:30 pm.
