Skip to main content

Scoring explosions lead Northeastern over New Oxford


A couple of four-minute explosions was all that it took for Northeastern to cruise by New Oxford, 78-57, in YAIAA I boys' basketball action on Wednesday night at New Oxford.

The win keeps the Bobcats undefeated.

New Oxford (7-5, 3-4) trimmed a seven-point halftime deficit to 38-37 in the opening minute of the third quarter as Ben Lehman and John Wessel canned back-to-back 3-pointers, but the visitors responded with a 19-2 run to take control of the game for good.

"When we played our game tonight, we had a chance to win," New Oxford coach Sean Bair said. "When we tried to play their game, they destroyed us."

Northeastern (14-0, 7-0) received 10 points from Brandon Coleman and six from Fred Mulbah during the run.

"New Oxford is a scary team, because they can shoot the ball," Northeastern coach Jon Eyster said. "We were very impatient in the first half and that's something that we wanted to work on in the second half. We did a better job of being patient and we executed better after halftime."

The Bobcats led 61-43 after three quarters and the Colonials got no closer than 64-48 in the fourth quarter.

New Oxford started the night hot, making four 3-pointers in the opening frame and led 18-14 when the quarter ended.

But the guests opened the second quarter by scoring 16 of the first 18 points and had Bair calling for timeout halfway through with his team behind, 30-20.

The hosts cut the lead to two points late in the quarter, but a triple by Nate Wilson and a layup by Coleman bumped Northeastern's lead to 38-31 at the half.

"They have better players than we do, it's as simple as that," Bair said. "We played hard, but they have more talent. You have to play almost perfect to beat them and you have to play your game to give yourselves a chance."

Mulbah paced the winners with a game-high 20 points and handed out five assists. He was joined in double figures by Coleman (16 points), Wilson (14 points) and Austin Greene (14 points and 11 rebounds).

Wessel led the Colonials with 16 points and 15 boards.