Cedarville, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team went on the road to take on the Cedarville Yellow Jackets on Saturday, Feb. 17 and came away with an 87-67 defeat. That loss gives the Oilers a 10-14 record on the season with a 7-9 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) while Cedarville improves to 17-9 overall with an 11-5 mark in the conference.
Findlay fell victim to another slow start Saturday, trailing 11-2 less than three minutes into the contest. However, the Oilers punched back, using a 13-3 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 15-14 lead on a triple by senior Joey Edmonds.
The Oilers would trail 25-23 on a three by senior Nathan Bruns at the ten-minute mark of the first half, but a 12-2 run by Cedarville over the next three-and-a-half minutes widened the home team's margin to 12 at 37-25. Findlay pulled to within eight at 43-35, but a last-minute basketball gave the Yellow Jackets a ten-point lead at the break.
A three-ball by senior Cameron Shaw came little more than two minutes into the second half and got the Oilers to within six points at 48-42, but a 19-4 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes of play gave CU firm control of the contest as they held a 67-46 lead with just 11:38 to play. It was a lead that would not be relinquished as the Jackets would go on to a 20-point victory.
It was a three-point shootout inside the Callan Athletic Center as the two teams would combine for 76 three-point attempts, 29 by Findlay and 47 by Cedarville, the eighth-most triples attempted in a game by a Division II team this season. The Oilers made 11 of those tries while the Yellow Jackets hit on 19.
On the glass, Findlay, which has struggled in this area all season due to its' style of play, was outrebounded 43-33 and also allowed 24 points in the paint while scoring 18 of their own.
Nathan Bruns led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds. In the process, Bruns again moved up on the Oilers all-time scoring list, tonight moving into seventh and passing Aaron Roth who scored 1,823 points for the Oilers from 1986-89. Bruns currently sits with 1,833 points and his next hurdle is Kyle Hunt who poured in 1,840 points from 1999-02.
Cameron Shaw scored 15 points while senior Joey Edmonds and sophomore Mason Brandt scored 11 and 10, respectively. Shaw, Edmonds, and Brandt each made a trio of triples while Brandt led the team with four assists.
With the season closing quickly, the Oilers still remain in ninth in the G-MAC's Point Rating System (PRS), the system used by the conference to determine its' tournament selections. Four games remain in the regular season, each of which will play a critical role in determining Findlay's postseason fate. That stretch begins on Thursday, Feb. 22 when the Oilers welcome the Tiffin Dragons to Croy. That contest will tip off at 7:30 pm.
