Men's basketball plays three close conference games in three days

The Emory Oxford men's basketball team traveled to play tough conference opponents for three games in three days.

The Eagles first played Patrick and Henry Community College. Emory Oxford led by two points at the half and held a lead midway through the second half. Patrick and Henry tied it and started to build on the lead, but the game remained close. With just over seven minutes remaining, Patrick and Henry began to pull away, making it too difficult for the Eagles to close the gap. The final score was 89-74.

First-years Leo Etah and Ved Desai led the Eagles in scoring. Etah had 26 points and eight rebounds. Desai scored 19 points with 10 rebounds. First-year Adeniyi Ogunlana had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

In the second game, Emory Oxford scored with seconds remaining to force overtime, but ultimately lost 100-89 to Camp Community College.

Camp led 86-83 with 10 seconds remaining in the game. After a made free throw, the Eagles got the ball back to try to tie the game. First-year Tyler Pavlik passed the ball to Desai with less than two seconds left. Desai shot a three-pointer as time expired to tie the game at 86.

Five Eagles had double digit points. Ogunlana led Emory Oxford with 19 and had eight rebounds. Etah had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Desai and Pavlik had 15 and 13 points. First-year Nick Yatros scored 11 points. In addition, first-year Jason Kim had eight points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

In the final game over the weekend, the Eagles played a close game with Sandhills Community College, which ended in a 94-90 loss. Emory Oxford led with less than two minutes left in the game before Sandhills tied the game on a turnover. Sandhills was able to take the lead and hold on with less than a minute left in the game.

Three Emory Oxford players had double-doubles. Desai led the Eagles with a career-high 32 points. He also had 14 rebounds. Etah had 30 points and 11 rebounds. Ogunlana had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Eagles are now 8-11 this season.

Emory Oxford's next game will be on the road against Southern Wesleyan University JV on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Game time is 7 p.m.