The men’s basketball team ended its season in the first round of the playoffs with a 89-56 loss against The College of Wooster Fighting Scots. The win advances the Scots to the next round of the North Coast Athletic Conference playoffs.

The season ending loss was the Yeomen’s third consecutive defeat in a stretch that included a 63–90 loss on senior night to the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops.

“I just wish we could have gotten off to a little better start, especially for the seniors. It would have been nice to for them to walk off the court after our first sub and feel a little bit better about how that started,” said Head Coach Isaiah Cavaco.

For seniors Geoff Simpson, Trey Levy, Emmanuel Lewis and Derrick Sant, the loss was especially disappointing, as it was their last time playing on their home court. Fortunately, Simpson and Lewis ended their careers on a high note, as they both scored in double figures — scoring 19 and 11 points, respectively.

While reflecting back on the loss, Simpson agreed with his coach. “It’s tough to go down by so much at the beginning of the game and have to fight back.”

The Yeomen also struggled against Wooster College during their last regular season game. Although Oberlin took the lead early in the game, the Scots seized control and kept their double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.

“We turned the ball over too much, and we just didn’t make our open shots. We got the looks we wanted, but we just didn’t make them work,” said first-year Jack Poyle, who led the team with 14 points.

However, Saturday’s loss provided an opportunity for the Yeomen to make adjustments before they played the Scots again on Tuesday in the opening night of the playoffs.

“I felt good going into Tuesday’s game. It helps having played them Saturday. We thought we had a good feel for what they wanted to do and what we needed to do to win,” Simpson said.

Specifically, Cavaco said that the team needed to handle exchanges more effectively.

However, despite the team’s strategy, the Yeomen came up short. The team fought to tie the game at 9–9 in the early going, and then to maintain a single digit-deficit early in the game, but Wooster pulled ahead in the second half.

Although these past games have been unsuccessful for the Yeomen, Simpson was excited to be named NCAC player of the week for Feb. 17. In addition to his NCAC accolades, Simpson secured a spot in Oberlin history as the 11th all-time scorer, with 1,255 career points.

“Being named player of the week was a great honor, as is my spot on the scoring list. I attribute it to the great opportunities I’ve had at Oberlin and all the hard work I’ve put in over the course of my career,” Simpson said.

The Yeomen ended their season with a record of 7–19 and 4–14 in the conference.

Despite losing a talented group of seniors, Coach Cavaco has high hopes for next season.

“I look forward to our young guys [who] have played a lot of minutes coming back with a better understanding of what it takes to win, not just be on the court. Obviously Geoff and EJ graduating is going to leave a big hole, but I am excited to see who’s going to step up and be the next guy [to] fill those spots.”