Sophomore post Grant Gossard (Westerville/Olentangy Orange) scored 6 points during an early 9-0 run that opened up a double-digit lead, then tallied 5 points during a late 9-2 run that helped 19th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan pull away for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Oberlin on Saturday in Oberlin.

Oberlin had closed to within 6-4 on a Jordan Armstrong lay-in just under 5 minutes into the game when the Bishops went on their 9-0 run.  Gossard sank a pair of lay-ins, senior guard Nate Axelrod (Dublin/Coffman) followed with a 3-pointer, and Gossard followed with another lay-in to give Ohio Wesleyan a 15-4 advantage with 13:13 left in the first half.

The Yeomen whittled away at the deficit, closing to witihn 29-28 on an Isaac Finestone lay-in late in the first half, but the Bishops answered with 6 straight points to close out the period, first getting a lay-in by Gossard before Axelrod converted a 4-point play with :06 on the clock for a 35-28 halftime lead.

Ohio Wesleyan extended the margin into double figures on a Gossard lay-in early in the second half, but Oberlin narrowed the gap to 51-47 on a Patrick Smith 3-pointer with 9:18 to go, and closed to within a bucket on a Charles Tiedemann lay-in with 6:54 remaining.  The Yeomen were still within 58-56 after a pair of Evan Suppa free throws with 2:35 to play.

Gossard answered with a lay-in on Ohio Wesleyan's ensuing possession, then scored from close range to push the lead to 62-56 with 1:15 left.

From there, the Bishops clinched the game at the stripe, with Axelrod and senior guard Seth Clark (Lewis Center/Olentangy) each hitting a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 8 points.

Axelrod led the Bishops with 26 points and 4 assists, while Gossard finished with 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double.

Andre Campbell led Oberlin with 14 points.