Bench Provides Spark in Oilers 85-76 Win Over NMU
The University of Findlay men's basketball team used a strong effort from their bench to claim an 85-76 win over Northern Michigan University on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Marquette, Michigan. The victory gives the Oilers a 16-5 record on the season with a 10-4 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Down by 12 at 55-43 with 12:43 left in the second period, the Oilers bench provided a huge spark to get the Oilers back into the game.
As the Oilers began to chip away at the Wildcats lead, freshman forward Jake Heagen made a couple of three pointers and sophomore guard Sean Samsel nailed one of his own. Senior forward Rob Marsden then took over, scoring 11 points during a six-minute stretch to give the Oilers a 71-68 lead with 4:48 to play.
Leading by three points, senior guard Kyle Caiola scored seven straight points for the Oilers to extend their lead to nine at 79-70 with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
After sophomore forward Greg Kahlig split a pair of free throws, Northern Michigan's Quinten Calloway scored on lay-up before DeAndre Taylor threw a dunk down to make the score 79-74 with 43 ticks showing on the clock.
Kahlig went back to the line on the ensuing possession and converted both, but Calloway kept Northern Michigan alive with a jumper to make the score 81-76 with 33 seconds left in the second half.
The Wildcats could not get any closer than five points however as Caiola made all four of his free throw attempts down the stretch to provide the final margin.
Kahlig led five Findlay players in double figures with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He also connected on 8-of-9 shots from the charity stripe while adding three rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Caiola scored 16 points, hitting all nine of his shots from the free throw line, while Marsden had a career-high tying 13 points and four rebounds in 16 quality minutes off the bench.
Heagen provided 11 points in only 14 minutes while junior guard Aaron Robinson had ten points in the win.
The Oilers shot 56.8 percent (25-of-44) from the floor and drilled 8-of-19 (42.1%) attempts from three point range. They also hit 27-of-31 (87.1%) shots from the free throw line and held a 33-14 advantage in points off the bench.
Calloway led the Wildcats with 23 points while Taylor had 15 points in the game.
The Oilers will return to the court on Thursday, February 9 when they travel to Tiffin, Ohio to face Tiffin University at 8 pm.