Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College men's basketball team knocked off the visiting Wittenberg University Tigers, 77-67, on Wednesday night at Philips Gym.

The victory marked the Yeomen's first win against the Tigers since November 15, 2014 when Oberlin prevailed 65-63 on its home floor. It snapped an 18 game-skid against Wittenberg and was just the second triumph over the perennial power in their last 70 meetings. 

Four Yeomen finished in double figures, led by rookie JJ Gray who poured in 21 points. The senior bench duo of Anastasis Spyroglou and Dimitrije Radusinovic each netted 16 points, while Milun Micanovic added 10 points and four blocked shots. 

The Tigers jumped out to an early 10-3 lead but the Yeomen would settle in and trim the gap down to just one, 15-14, on a traditional 3-point play by Spyroglou at the 10:45 mark. After the Tigers pushed the lead back out to five, the Yeomen responded with a 9-0 run en route to grabbing their first lead of the game on a Robert Millard triple-hit. 

It would stay nip-and-tuck throughout the rest of the half with no more than two points separating the two foes the rest of the session. A 3-pointer from Gray made it a 29-27 Oberlin lead and the Yeomen would ultimately carry a 30-29 cushion into the intermission. 

Following the restart the Tigers claimed a 35-32 edge, but the Yeomen would go back out in front on a pair of Micanovic charity tosses at the 16:43 mark and Oberlin would never trail again. It was later tied at 41-41 but the Yeomen would create some separation with an 11-3 spurt that was capped off by a Radusinovic long-range strike at the midway point of the second half that made it a 52-44 Yeomen advantage. 

The Yeomen would extend the lead out to 12, 62-50, with 6:38 left to expire but the Tigers had one last surge in them to put the pressure back on the home side. A 13-1 Wittenberg barrage shrunk the margin all the way down to 63-61 with just over three minutes to go. 

After a pair of Will Bousquette III free throws made it a two-possession game, Gray buried a clutch jumper with 100 seconds left to make it 67-61. Moments later it was Asaan Snipes-Rea who cashed in a pair of clutch charity tosses. After the Tigers cut it to four again, it was Gray who came up big again with a finish in the paint with 37 ticks reamining and then the Yeomen were able to finish the job on the defensive end and at the line. 

The Yeomen shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the floor and deposited 22 of the 25 free throws they hoisted for an 88 percent success rate. The Tigers shot 27-of-54 for a 50 percent clip but went just 1-of-14 (7.1%) from beyond the arc. 

The loss snapped a three-game skid for the Yeomen, running their record to 10-9 overall and 4-6 in the league, while Wittenberg fell to 13-6 and 7-3 in league play. 

The Yeomen are back in action next Wednesday when they host Denison University at 7 p.m.