HIRAM, Ohio -- Sophomore Kelvin Jones tied his career-high with 23 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds to lead the Hiram College men's basketball team to a 78-68 win over Oberlin on Saturday.
The Terriers are now 17-6 on the season and 11-5 in NCAC play, while the Yeomen drop to 12-11, 7-9. Hiram's 11 NCAC wins are tied for the most for the program since they joined the conference in the 1999-00 season. In addition, the 17 overall wins are the most for the program since the 1992-93 season.
Jones finished 8-of-11 from the field and seven of his 16 boards were on the offensive glass. He bettered his previous career-best of 15 rebounds in a win at Otterbein earlier this season on November 25.
Sophomore Trey Sanders (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Beachwood) scored a career-high 13 points off the bench and finished with four assists.
Sophomore Paul Ortiz (Canton, Ohio/McKinley Senior) also reached double figures with 10 points.
Hiram was able to jump out to an early 12-7 lead, before Oberlin reeled off six consecutive points to take a 13-12 lead with 12:18 left in the first half.
The Terriers answered right back with an 8-0 run to open a 20-13 lead with 9:29 left in the opening half.
Hiram held the lead for the rest of the first half and took a 41-31 advantage into the intermission.
The Yeomen were able to trim the Terrier lead to 45-40, but Hiram responded with five quick points to build its lead back to 50-40 with 14:50 remaining.
A layup by freshman Ryan Greenwood (Fairport Harbor, Ohio/Fairport Harbor) at the 10:22 mark allowed the Terriers to open their largest lead of the game at 64-48.
The Yeomen countered with an 11-2 run to pull within 66-59 with just under five minutes to go.
Oberlin was unable to get any closer as Hiram converted four free throws in the final 43 seconds to put the game out of reach.
Hiram finished 29-of-70 (41.4 percent) from the field, while the Yeomen were 25-of-68 (36.8 percent) in shooting.
The Terriers won the rebounding battle 50-39 and also outscored Oberlin 40-28 in the paint.
Hiram will look to continue its winning ways on Wednesday, as they travel to take on Denison at 8 p.m.