Findlay, Ohio – Another night, another large deficit erased.
After trailing by 18 at halftime on Thursday against Tiffin, the University of Findlay men's basketball team trailed by as many as 14 in the second half on Saturday, Feb. 24 but came back to steal a 73-69 victory against the Hillsdale College Chargers in Croy Gymnasium's final home game of the season. With that win, the Oilers improve to 12-14 on the year and 9-9 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) while Hillsdale falls to 17-9 overall and 12-7 in the league.
After a slugfest of a first ten minutes of play, the Oilers held a 22-20 lead, but it would be their last lead for a while as in the back half of the first frame, the Chargers outscored Findlay 19-9, drilling 4-of-6 from deep, to take a 39-31 lead into the break.
Hillsdale opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 14-point lead, their largest of the game. Findlay slowly chipped away and, with just under two minutes to play in the game, finally pulled to within one possession on a layup by senior Joey Edmonds, a bucket that made the score 69-66 in favor of the visitors.
A pair of free throws by freshman Anthony Johnson and two more by Edmonds put the Oilers in front for the first time in 28 minutes. That 70-69 lead came with just 46 seconds to play in the game.
Just like on Thursday, the Oilers crowd came to its' feet as cheers of 'de-fense' reigned down onto Houdeshell Court. Findlay responded, forcing a missed three. Sophomore Mason Brandt went up high for the rebound and was fouled, but had to come out because he was elbowed on the play, causing a bloody nose. Sophomore Max Roth came off the bench and shot the free throws in Brandt's stead, canning them both.
Another miss and a free throw later, the Oilers had a 73-69 lead with just six seconds left. A desperation triple by the Chargers was no good and Findlay had secured is second consecutive win, keeping the team alive for a G-MAC Tournament berth.
Findlay shot 24-of-48 (50%) from the floor in the game including 8-of-21 (38%) from three-point range. Hillsdale made 24-of-57 (42%) and, after drilling seven triples in the first half, connected on just 4-of-17 in the second, finishing 11-of-30 (37%) from three-point range.
Senior Nathan Bruns scored 21 points in his final game in Croy Gymnasium, making 8-of-15 from the floor. He also grabbed six rebounds and added three assists. Also wrapping up his career in Croy, senior Joey Edmonds scored 16 points and had a pair of helpers.
Freshman Anthony Johnson scored 16 while Roth had nine and freshman Will Aljancic, who led the team with seven rebounds, scored eight.
Findlay returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 29 with a road contest against these same Hillsdale College Chargers in another important contest. That game will tip off at 7:30 pm and can be seen on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
