Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team erased a 16-point deficit in five minutes as they rallied all the way back to knockoff the visiting Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops, 89-80, in overtime on Wednesday night at Philips Gym.
 
The Yeomen trailed 68-52 with 5:11 left to play in regulation but never gave up hope as they closed the session on a 20-4 burst to tie the game at 72-72 after 40 minutes of play. Oberlin trailed 70-58 with 1:49 on the clock but a five-point trip down the floor the featured a four-point play from Wolf Moser trimmed the OWU lead down to seven and put the momentum squarely on Oberlin's side.
 
Following a five-second violation on the Bishops, Andre Campbell would notch his 19^th point of the game and 1,000^th of his career to make it a two-possession game. Following a pair of Jaret Gerber free throws in the closing seconds, Oberlin would have its chance for a game-tying 3-pointer. Joshua Friedkin's initial look off a curl rimmed out but Isaac Finestone collared the rebound and alertly kicked it out to Moser on the far wing and the junior from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, would cash in the biggest shot of his Yeomen career with less than a second on the clock to send the game into overtime.
 
With the Bishops shell-shocked, the Yeomen were able to pull away in the extra session. A near wing triple-hit from Finestone increased the Oberlin cushion out to 85-79 with 1:48 left to expire and OWU would muster just one point the rest of the way as they finished the additional period 1-for-7 from the floor and 5-of-10 at the free-throw line.
 
Senior Christian Fioretti led all scorers with 20 points to accompany his eight assists and six rebounds. Campbell hit his career milestone by matching his season-high point total on 6-of-12 shooting and a 7-of-9 showing at the charity stripe. Moser came to life in the clutch, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime. Finestone also made key contributions with 11 points, five assists, and seven rebounds.  
 
The Yeomen shot a subpar 34.6 percent (9-of-26) in the first half as the Bishops carried a comfortable 31-20 advantage into the intermission.
 
OWU started off the second half scorching hot as they kept the Yeomen at bay, holding a double-digit lead from the 10:23 mark until just 1:48 remained in the game when it all unraveled.  
 
Oberlin finished 31-of-66 from the floor for a 47 percent success rate, which included an impressive 10-of-21 (47.6) performance from beyond the arc. The Yeomen also dialed in on 17 of the 20 free throws they hoisted for an 85 percent clip. The Bishops finished at 43.5 percent (27-of-62) shooting and were 16-of-22 (72.7%) at the charity stripe.
 
The loss dropped the Bishops back to 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the NCAC while the Yeomen improved to 8-4 and are also 2-3 in league play.
 
The Yeomen will look to make it two in a row on Saturday afternoon as they travel west to take on the Wabash College Little Giants at 2 p.m.