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Ohio Wesleyan 67, Oberlin 62 (2/9/2002)

Sophomore guard Shawn Kindred (Delaware/Hayes), freshman forward Brandon Cole (Sidney) and junior guard Jason Dopoulos (Strongsville) sank free throws in the final minute as Ohio Wesleyan held off an Oberlin comeback in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops jumped to a 13-2 lead right out of the gate as Dopoulos scored 5 points and Kindred added a 3-pointer. Oberlin remained within striking distance but the Bishops seemed to have the game well in hand after closing the first half with a 16-5 run, capped by a Kindred 3-pointer at the buzzer that made the score 45-27 in favor of Ohio Wesleyan.

Ohio Wesleyan bumped the lead to 20 points early in the second half, first on a jumper by sophomore center Travis Schwab (Medina) and then again on a Cole putback with 16:04 remaining that gave the Bishops a 56-36 lead.

But the Bishops cooled off from the field after that and Oberlin came back. Chris Ikpoh scored 5 points and James Keating added a pair of baskets to fuel an 11-2 run that sliced the deficit to 58-47 with 11:19 to play.

Kindred followed with a 3-pointer that hiked the Bishop lead to 61-47 with 10:31 to play, but Ohio Wesleyan would not score again for nearly 10 minutes.

Oberlin was not able to take advantage of the Bishop dry spell, however, going scoreless from the field for nearly 7 minutes after the end of the Yeomen 11-2 run. Ikpoh finally ended the drought with a turnaround jumper from the right baseline with 4:40 to play, and Cameron Leverett drained a 3-pointer with 2:41 left as Oberlin came within 61-54.

Dopoulos answered with a driving hoop with :57.9 remaining, but Oberlin answered with a pair of 3-pointers by Djordje Eremic to make the score 64-60 with :40 remaining.

Cole followed with a pair of free throws with :37.3 left, and Ikpoh sank a pair of free throws with :19.8 remaining for a 66-62 score. The Yeomen were not able to score again and Dopoulos accounted for the final score with a free throw with :03.3 left.

Kindred and Schwab shared the team lead with 18 points apiece, with Schwab grabbing a team-high 9 rebounds. Cole finished with 11 points and Dopoulos scored 10 points.

Ikpoh led Oberlin with 20 points and Leverett finished with 10 points.