The Patriots decided to go with experience to start out the game as they started 3 seniors and 2 juniors. The seniors were Christian Saw, Colin Togashi, and Derek Hsieh. The juniors were the two captains, Joshua Icasas and Amer El-Hariri.

At the start of the game, Icasas took control by scoring the first 7 points of the game to give Oxford an early lead. Whitney was finally able to get on the board by making 1 of 2 free throws but the Patriots came right back as Saw attacked the basket for an easy lay up (9-1). The Oxford defense stood strong in the early going as they were forcing Whitney into turnovers and poor shots which gave the Oxford offense the chance to extend their lead. Icasas was able to finish on a fast break with a lay up to push the lead to double digits early on (11-1). Whitney came back with a couple of easy jumpers but the Patriots seemed to have an answer every time as Christian hit a jumper from the wing (13-5). El-Hariri wasn’t scoring in the early minutes but instead, played the part of the distributor as he had a couple of assists early on. After an exchange of 3’s, El-Hariri finally got on the board with a step back jumper from the top of the key to end a great first quarter for the Patriots (20-8).

The second quarter picked up right where the first ended with Sophomore Daniel Lee hitting a turnaround jumper to start it off (22-8). Whitney answered right back but Icasas hit a deep 2 pointer from the corner to get it back (24-10). After a couple of empty possessions for both teams, Lee hit a three from the wing to extend the lead to 17 (27-10). Whitney came back with four unanswered points until Saw hit another jumper from the corner (29-14). El Hariri then came back with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 17 (31-14). Whitney continued to get to the foul line as they sank two more, but Saw once again got into the lane for an easy one (33-16). The Oxford defense stayed strong as they continued to force Whitney to take difficult shots and kept them out of the pain. Senior Kyle Kakalia came in near the end of the half and got an easy layup to fall to give Oxford their biggest lead of the game (35-17). Whitney beat the defense downcourt though and got a bucket and a foul but failed to convert on the three point play. Whitney was able to get back to the foul line at the end of the half and hit two free throws to make it (35-21) at the end of the half. At the half, Icasas led the way with 13 points, Saw had 8, Lee with 5, El-Hariri with 4, Togashi with 3, and Kakalia with 2.

The second half began with Togashi picking up an early 4th foul but he stayed in the game. Icasas got the scoring started with a put back to make it (37-21). Whitney scored on their next possession but El-Hariri was able to hit a runner in the lane (39-23). Whitney then began to attack the inside where the Patriots are supposed to be most vulnerable with their lack of size. El Hariri hit a 3 from the wing to give Oxford a 15 point lead (42-27). Whitney was able to get back-to-back lay ups though to trim the deficit (42-33). Togashi picked up his 5th and final foul later on with on a questionable call by the referee on a charge. Needing some energy, Saw came back in and hit a deep two from the corner to get the lead back to double digits (44-33). Whitney continued to get the line though and hit 1 of 2 to trim the lead. Icasas then picked up his 4th foul and he remained in the game. Saw was able to attack the bucket for a lay up (46-34). The teams then exchanged baskets which led to Icasas picking up his 5th and final foul to knock him out of the game, finishing with 15, which meant that someone else on the Patriots needed to step up and pick up the scoring slack he left behind. The quarter ended with Whitney cutting the lead back to single digits (48-39).

Whitney came out quick with 6 unanswered to cut the lead down to 3 (48-45). El Hariri was able to step up and knock down a much needed 3 for the Patriots to make it (51-45). Saw was able to get to the foul line and hit 1 of 2 but Whitney answered with free throws of their own (52-46). Saw then decided to take control by grabbing a missed shot and putting it up and in while drawing the foul. He was able to convert the 3 point play to push the Oxford lead back to 9 (55-46). Whitney got right back to the foul line and hit both (55-48). A scary moment came for the Patriots when Saw went down with what appeared to be cramps but he would return later in the game. Both teams were in the bonus with under 4 minutes to play and it would be a big part of the game going down the stretch. El-Hariri got fouled and was able to hit 1 of 2 but Whitney came right back inside with a lay up (56-50). Whitney then hit 4 more free throws to get the lead down to 2 (56-54). Saw and El-Hariri hit back-to-back jumpers to get the lead back up to 6 (60-54). Whitney came with 3 unanswered to trim the lead but Saw was able to get to the free throw line and hit 1 of 2 to give Oxford a little cushion (61-57). Whitney then hit a lay up to cut the lead back to 2 with less than a minute to play (61-59). El-Harir though, stepped up to the free throw line and hit 1 of 2 to make it a 3 point game with 8 seconds left. Whitney was able to draw a foul though on an attempted three and had 3 free throws to try and tie it up with just .8 seconds left. They missed all three though and Oxford came out the winner in this.

The Patriots had a nice, balanced attack throughout the game. Icasas got things going early finishing with 15 points and 3 rebounds. But when he fouled out, Saw and El-Hariri were able to step up. Saw stepped up his game down the stretch by leading the Patriots with nearly a double-double, finishing with 19 points and 9 boards. El-Hariri also stepped up his game finishing with 16 points and 7 rebounds.

The Patriots played a solid game throughout, but when Icasas came out Whitney began to cut the lead. Other players stepped up though and kept Oxford ahead. The boys came out with energy and took the early lead and never let go, they never trailed during the entire game.