As is custom on Senior Night, 5 seniors started it off for Oxford: Sherman, Kyle, Colin, Derek, and Ian. Crean came right off the opening tip and hit a 3. Tang came right back though with a tip in off of an Oxford miss (2-3). Crean took advantage of their next possession by hitting a bucket and drawing the foul. They converted the three-point play and got a quick steal which they converted into an easy lay up (2-8). Oxford came back though with a nice drive to the basket by Hsieh for 2 (4-8). Crean pounded the ball inside though and got another bucket and foul which they converted to extend the lead (4-11). Another turnover by the Patriots led to another easy lay up for Crean (4-13). Saw got into the lane and hit a runner though (6-13). On Oxford’s next possession, Freshman John Good hit a jumper to start bringing Oxford back (8-13). Crean drew a foul and hit just 1 of 2. Junior Joshua Icasas then came back for Oxford by hitting a deep two from the wing (10-14). An ensuing steal by Oxford led to a lay up for Icasas. After a missed shot by Crean, Junior Amer El-Hariri attacked the bucket and drew the foul, hitting 1 of 2 free throws (13-14). Crean was able to get back inside though and got an easy basket. Good came back for Oxford as he hit a 3 from the wing to tie it all up (16-16). Crean took their next possession and drew a foul inside and hit both free throws (16-18). Saw came back for Oxford and hit a 3 to give the Patriots their first lead of the game (19-18). Crean continued to muscle their way inside and drew a foul and hit 1 of 2 to tie the game at the end of the first (19-19).

Oxford got things started in the 2nd as Saw got an offensive board and the put back to regain the lead (21-19). Following a Crean miss, Saw hit a deep jumper for Oxford (23-19). Crean struck back though with a jumper of their own and a lay up in transition to tie it back up (23-23). El-Hariri got into the lane again for Oxford and drew a foul. He hit 1 of 2, but was matched by Crean to keep things knotted up (24-24). El-Hariri came back for Oxford with a finger roll in the lane (26-24). Crean continued to get inside though against the Oxford defense and got another easy bucket (26-26). Tang came back for Oxford and hit a baseline turnaround jumper which was answered by Crean on a transition lay up (28-28). El-Hariri led an ensuing fast break for Oxford and finished it with a lay up. Crean was fouled on their next possession but hit just 1 of 2 (30-29). Sophomore Daniel Lee came back for Oxford and with a deep 2 from the wing. El-Hariri followed it up with another lay up in transition. Crean got back inside though and got an easy put back before the end of the half (34-31).

The second half began with Crean going on a 6 point run to reclaim the lead (34-37). El-Hariri finally got Oxford on the board in the half with a leaner in the paint (36-37). Crean continued to out muscle Oxford down low and got two more easy buckets in the paint (36-41). After an Oxford turnover, Crean got another easy transition lay up to take a 7 point lead (36-43). Hsieh got inside for Oxford and drew a foul hitting just 1 of 2 free throws. El-Hariri got back out on the break and got another transition lay up (39-43). Crean got inside again and drew another foul, hitting both free throws (39-45). On Oxford’s next possession, El-Hariri hit a jumper inside to keep Oxford tight. Hsieh then got to the rim and hit an easy lay up (43-45). Following a missed shot by Crean, Icasas got fouled on a drive to the bucket and hit both free throws to knot things up once again (45-45). A couple of missed free throws by Crean led to a jumper by Icasas inside to regain the lead for Oxford (47-45). Crean got inside once again and drew another foul and hit 1 of 2. Following a miss by Oxford, Crean drew another foul and hit both this time to reclaim the lead at the end of the 3rd (47-48).

Crean got inside and hit a jumper to begin the fourth (47-50). Icasas answered though with a deep 2. Crean took their next possession and drew another foul and hit 1 of 2 (49-51). On Oxford’s next possession, El-Hariri drove baseline and hit a leaner from behind the backboard and drew the foul but failed to convert the 3-point play (51-51). Crean came back at Oxford and converted their own 3-point play to retake the lead (51-54). Following a missed shot by Oxford, Crean drew the foul and hit both free throws (51-56). Oxford turned the ball over on their next possession and it led to an easy transition lay up for Crean (51-58). Saw then attacked the bucket and drew the foul for Oxford and hit 1 of 2 free throws (52-58). On Crean’s next possession, they were fouled again and hit both (52-60). On Crean’s next possession, Icasas came from the back side to get a block and was rewarded in transition with a lay up (54-60). Crean got back inside though for another easy bucket (54-62). El-Hariri answered back as he got into the lane for the lay up. After forcing a turnover, Icasas left the ball for El-Hariri who finished the lay up (58-62). Crean beat Oxford down court though and got the easy lay up. El-Hariri came back for Oxford and drew a foul and hit both ensuing free throws (60-64). Crean answered though with a jumper in the lane. Hsieh came back for Oxford with a drive to the rim for a lay up (62-66). Crean was fouled on their next possession and hit 1 of 2. Following a miss by Oxford, Crean drew another foul and hit both this time (62-69). Oxford turned the ball over and Crean got an easy lay up to pretty much seal the deal. El-Hariri hit a meaningless lay up before the buzzer to end the game (64-71).

Oxford was in this game the entire way. They hung in there throughout the entire game as no team seemed to be able to pull away until the closing moments. The difference maker proved to be the free throw differential as Crean attempted 33 free throws compared to Oxford’s 16. It was a disappointing end of the season that saw a couple of big moments for the team. Ranging from Oxford’s first league win in over 3 years, beating St. Margaret’s for the first time in school history, or winning the Homecoming game in front of a record crowd, the basketball team had a solid season all around.