#9 Oilers Can't Overcome Big Deficit, Fall 75-69 at Hillsdale
The University of Findlay men's basketball team, ranked ninth in the nation, got down big early and made a run in the second half, but it wasn't enough as they fell 75-69 to Hillsdale College on Thursday, December 8 in Hillsdale, Michigan.
The Oilers dug themselves a 24-point deficit in the first ten minutes of the game as the Chargers raced out to a 26-2 lead when the second media timeout was called. By the end of the opening half, the Oilers trailed by a score of 39-15 as they connected on only 23.8 (5-of-21) of their field goal attempts. Meanwhile, the Chargers came out smoking, hitting 65.4 percent (17-of-26) of their shots in the opening period.
The Oilers played better in the second half and eventually cut the lead to three points at 67-64 with 1:50 remaining, but the big first half deficit proved too much to overcome as they fell to 6-2 on the season with a 1-1 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
The Chargers, who snapped a 23-game losing streak against Findlay, hit 51 percent (24-of-47) of their shots in the game while the Oilers connected on 42 percent (21-of-50) of their field goal attempts.
Senior guard Kyle Caiola led the team with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds while junior guard Aaron Robinson contributed ten points and seven rebounds.
Brent Eaton led Hillsdale with 19 points.
The Oilers will be back in action again on Saturday when they host Saginaw Valley State University at 3 pm in Croy Gymnasium.