Griffins Fall Behind In The Second Half Against Oakland City

OAKLAND CITY, Ind.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team played well in its first road game against Oakland City on Tuesday night, however, the Mighty Oaks came away with the 102-87 win.

Fontbonne (0-2), shot 48.6 percent from the floor and 44.8 percent from downtown. The team had a stellar first half shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 9-of-14 from beyond-the-arc. In the second half though, the team had its struggles knocking in just 38.5 percent of its attempts.

Individually, Thomas Ritter continues to have an impactful start to the 2017-18 campaign with his team and career-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Kris McCann knocked in 15 points, while Luke DeLine netted a career-high 13 points off the bench to lead the group that outscored the Mighty Oaks' bench 36-11.

Oakland City (3-1), meanwhile, shot over 63.0 percent in both the first and second half to finish at 65.6 percent on the night. The Mighty Oaks were also dominant in the pant with a 64-42 advantage and totaled 18 fast break points, compared to the Griffins four.

Oakland City was led by Addison Wagler's game-high 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Logan Worthington was dominant on the inside with his 10 defensive rebounds, to go along with his 24 points.

Andre Bearden was the third starter to reach double-figures, going 10-of-11 from the field to finish with 21 points. Andrew Scott, meanwhile, contributed 19 points of his own.  

In the first half, things started out well for the Griffins as Tristan Baker's 3-pointer at 16:06 gave them a 13-6 advantage. Fontbonne went on to stretch its lead out to 24-13 less than three minutes later on Ritter's made jumper.

However, the Mighty Oaks rattled off a 15-0 run to take the lead back at 10:38 on Worthington's lay-up in the paint. The two teams battled the rest of the half but with 30.0 seconds remaining, OCU still led 50-46 after Joe Hinton's two made free throws.

Prior to the horn sounding, DeLine got the ball from Ritter and he sank the 3-pointer with 5.0 seconds left to make it a one point game (50-49) at the half.

Both teams filled up the stat sheet through the first 20:00 minutes of play as each team shot over 60.0 percent from the floor, while Fontbonne owned the glass with a 16-10 advantage. Ritter and DeLine were tied with eight points each. OCU was led by Bearden, who was a handful going a perfect 9-of-9 to finish with 19 points.

At the 16:28 mark of the second half, McCann's lay-up in the paint tied the game up at 61-61. Over the next four minutes, OCU was able to distance themselves from Fontbonne at 72-63 on Andrew Scott's bucket in the paint.

The Mighty Oaks didn't stop there, expanding on its lead to 90-71 with 4:07 left to go on Worthington's fast break dunk.

FBU wouldn't give in as Ritter's 3-pointer narrowed it down to 94-84 with a little over one minute and 20 seconds to go in regulation. That'd be as close as they'd get as OCU closed out on an 8-3 run to hang on for the 15-point win.

Prior to its home opener on Saturday against the University of Dallas Crusaders, the Griffins will square off against Eastern Illinois in an exhibition game on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's basketball team.