Landers Leads Oilers in Season-Opening Victory
Cedarville, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team opened up the 2022-23 campaign on Friday, Nov. 11 in the G-MAC / GLVC Crossover which was being hosted by Cedarville University. The Oilers were matched up against Quincy University and came from behind to earn a 96-87 victory.
The first half of action was back-and-forth as the Hawks' biggest lead of the half was six points and the Oilers' biggest lead was five. The Oilers took that five-point lead with 2:31 to play in the first half on a triple by sophomore Josh Thorbahn. Quincy closed the half on an 8-to-2 run, however, and held a 41-42 advantage over Findlay going into the break.
Ten minutes into the second half, Quincy hit a triple that put the Hawks up by ten points and, just a minute later, another three put Quincy up by 11, its' largest lead of the game.
With nine minutes to play, Findlay began their comeback.
A pair of threes by freshman Khalil Luster cut the deficit to 74-71 in favor of Quincy, but and 8-to-4 run put the Hawks back up by seven with just under five minutes to play.
That lead was quickly erased on a layup by junior Andrew Owens, a triple by freshman Jagger landers, and then a go-ahead triple by Luster, giving Findlay an 83-82 lead, its' first advantage in 11 minutes.
Those baskets were part of a 15-to-1 run by the Oilers that spanned three minutes and saw the score go from 82-75 to 90-83 in favor of Findlay, leaving just one minute to play in the game.
Teams exchanged free throws down the stretch, leading to a nine-point victory for the Orange and Black in the season-opener.
Both teams shot well from the floor as each finished the game around 55% from the field. Findlay had the slight edge, making 33-of-58 (.569). The Oilers also hit on 14-of-30 (.467) from deep while Quincy made 11-of-20 (.550).
Each team turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 16 points for the Hawks and ten points for Findlay.
Two big differences in the game were free-throw shooting and bench points. The Oilers hit 16-of-17 from the charity stripe while the Hawks made just 10-of-19. Findlay also had a major lift off of its' bench, picking up 37 points from the non-starters.
Jagger Landers led the way for the Oilers in his first official game for the Orange and Black. He scored 18 points on 6-of-8 from the floor, grabbed four rebounds, and added a steal and a block. Also, off the bench was freshman Khalil Luster who scored 14 points including a perfect 4-of-4 performance from three-point range. He had three rebounds and three assists.
Senior Nathan Bruns scored 17 in the season debut while Thorbahn scored 16 points, had two rebounds, and a career-high five assists. Senior Joey Edmonds scored 14 points and had a game-high eight assists while senior Deven Stover had 12 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.
Findlay is back in action tomorrow to take on Truman State at 2:00 pm. That game will also be hosted by Cedarville University.
