Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio - Johnathan Nelson's triple-try from the far corner in the closing seconds rimmed out to allow the visiting Hiram College Terriers to escape with a 49-47 win in the NCAC opener for both schools on Wednesday night at Philips Gym.

With the score tied at 47 and just 10 seconds left on the clock, James Tompsett had his lay-up bounce out and a quick Oberlin foul sent Babajide Eniola to the line for two. After the made charity tosses, Head Coach Isaiah Cavaco designed a beautiful inbounds play that resulted in Nelson getting a wide-open look that just didn't go down.

“We couldn't have asked for a better shot in that situation,” Cavaco said. “We did a good job executing the play, but it wasn't the right result. I am proud of our guys for how hard they fought tonight, and now we just need to build from this and continue to get better.”

It was just two minutes early that Nelson gave the Yeomen just their second lead of the second half by knocking down a three-ball from the opposite corner – making the score 43-42.

Before the thrilling finish, Oberlin led 47-44, but Alan Sheppard came off a pick to get a clean look from long range to tie the game with 48 seconds left to play.

Merrit turned in his best performance of the season as he finished with a game-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with four boards and four assists. Marcus Johnson was the only other Yeoman to reach double-figures as he checked in with 12 points.

The first half was an offensive struggle for both squads as the Yeomen led 15-14 at the break.

In the game, the Yeomen shot 43.9-percent (18-of-41), while the Terriers netted just 35.6-percent (16-of-45) of their shots. Hiram (2-2, 1-0 NCAC) went to the free throw line 20 times – cashing in 14 for a 70-percent success rate. Oberlin (2-4, 0-1 NCAC) hoisted just 11 charity tosses – converting six (54.5%) in the loss.

The Yeomen hope to get rid of this sour taste when they travel out west on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. tilt at Earlham College.