Shooting Struggles a Big Factor in Back-to-Back Losses on the Weekend

Plymouth, MN – Oak Hills Men's Basketball team struggled over the weekend, suffering back-to-back losses to the Calvary University Warriors and the Emmaus Bible College Eagles leaving them looking to regroup after a challenging couple of days.

The weekend of games started Friday afternoon as the Wolfpack took on the Warriors from Calvary University. The game started off slowly with neither team able to get much up in terms of points. The baskets that were scored were back and forth with no team able to get further than 7 points away from the other during the first half of play. The teams went into the locker room at the break with Oak Hills down 25-30.

The Wolfpack were led at the half by freshman, Noah Larson (Park Rapids, MN) who ended the half with 10 points and 3 steals. Other contributors for the low scoring half were Senior, Alexander Gonzalez (Miami, FL) who had 4 points, freshman Caleb Smoot (McDonough, GA) who added 3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals, and sophomore, Trent Huonder (Milaca, MN) who added 3 points and 3 rebounds.

The shooting woes continued for Oak Hills during the second half where as a team, the men shot only 22% from deep and only 50% from the free throw line. When compared to the Warriors who shot over 50% from 3 making 7 of their 13 attempts from behind the 3 point line in the second half.

In the end, the inability to finish their shots compounded by the sharpshooting from the Warriors was too much for the Wolfpack and the game was lost with a final score of 59-74.

Oak Hills was led on the night by Smoot, who ended the game with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Larson also added 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals for the team. Junior Bryson Keepers, (Sheldon, WI) made an impact for the team as he finished the night with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Gonzalez also contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds.

The next day, the Oak Hills team were set to take on the Emmaus Bible College Eagles to cap off the weekend of basketball. It was another early battle between the teams, until around the 8 minute mark where a steal from Smoot and a fast break layup from Keepers gave the Wolfpack a lead of 9 points with a score of 22-13. It didn't hold though, as the Eagles would go on a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes of play to close the gap back up.

After a couple of made free throws from Larson, the Emmaus team would go on another 9-0 run to give themselves a good lead. With the score now at 24-33 with only 3 minutes left in the half, the Wolfpack had allowed themselves to be put into a hole that they would struggle to get out of. At the halftime break, the score would be 31-39.

Smoot led the team in scoring during the first half and finished with 10 points and 2 steals. Gonzalez contributed 7 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal. Keepers would contribute what he could as he was in foul trouble during the first half, but he was able to add 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the opening half.

In another half of shooting struggles compounded by an opponent being able to hit their shots, the Wolfpack would struggle to overcome their shooting woes. Oak Hills only shot less than 28% from the field during the second half and less than 24% from behind the 3-point line. In comparison, the Eagles shot over 51% from the field and over 41% from behind the arc.

The game would end with a final score of 66-87 after a tough second half for the Wolfpack. Smoot would lead the team in points and ended with a season high 22 points. He also added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals for his team. Larson and Gonzalez also were in double digit points contributions with 12 and 10 respectively.

Oak Hills was able to get some help off the bench with contributions from freshman Isaac Korell, (Huron, SD) and Senior Deacon Bock (Blaine, MN) who both were able to add 7 points each for the team.

The Wolfpack will be back in action on Tuesday, December 3^rd as the team will travel up to Thief River Falls, MN to take on the Northland Community and Technical College Pioneers.