Oilers Win 5th GLIAC Tournament Title
The University of Findlay men's basketball team captured their fifth Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament championship on Saturday, March 6 as they defeated Hillsdale College 79-66 in front of a energized crowd at Croy Gymnasium.
Leading by one at 17-16 with 9:18 to play in the opening half, Hillsdale went on a three point barrage and hit six triples in the final eight minutes of the period to open up a 37-28 lead at the break.
In all, the Chargers splashed 9-of-11 (81.8%) three pointers in the first and shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the floor while the Oilers were only able to manage a 37.0 percent (10-of-27) shooting clip in the opening half.
The second half was a different story however as the Oilers got a triple from junior forward Tyler Sparks and scored on back-to-back lay-ups by junior center Jason Wehri to make the score 37-35 with just under 18 minutes remaining.
Down two, junior guard Nathan Hyde drained a three of his own to break the school record for most three's in a season while giving the Oilers a 38-37 advantage with 17:10 showing on the clock.
Another lay-up by Wehri made the score 40-37 before Tyler Gerber tied the game with a three for Hillsdale on the ensuing possession.
Tied 40-40, the Oilers scored the next nine points to take a 49-40 lead as they opened the deciding half on a 21-3 during the first seven minutes.
The Chargers would then get no closer than six points the rest of the way as Findlay captured their second straight conference tournament title.
As a team, the Oilers shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the floor and made 68.0 percent (17-of-25) of their field goal attempts in the second half.
They also hit 10-of-22 (45.5%) shots from behind the three point line and out-rebounded the Chargers 33-22.
Hillsdale meanwhile shot 42.9 percent (21-of-49) from the field and only connected on 32.1 percent (9-of-28) of their attempts in the final half.
The Chargers ended the game by making 15-of-28 (53.6%) three point attempts and were led by Gerber and Brad Guinane who scored 20 and 17 points respectively en route to spots on the all-tournament team.
The Oilers were led by Hyde's 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting as he captured the MVP award with a stellar run during Findlay's three game march through the tournament.
Hyde set a new GLIAC Tournament record with 84 points scored, he made all 23 of his free throw attempts to set a new mark and drained 6-of-10 shots from behind the three point line in the championship game to give him a new tournament record of 15 triples for the series.
Senior guard Marcus Parker added 18 points and six assists, Sparks had 16 points and five rebounds and Wehri contributed eight points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks as all three players were named to the all-tournament team.
In addition, the Oilers made 77 free throws in the two games to set a new tournament record while their 94 attempts from the charity stripe also established a new GLIAC record for a tournament series.
The Oilers will be back in action again on Saturday, March 13 at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Tournament. The Oilers destination and opponent will be determined on Sunday evening.
2010 GLIAC All-Tournament Team
Tyler Gerber, Hillsdale
Brad Guinane, Hillsdale
Jason Wehri, Findlay
Marcus Parker, Findlay
Tyler Sparks, Findlay
Nathan Hyde, Findlay, MVP