Men's Basketball loses close conference contest to Oakland City

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's basketball lost a close, 61-51, River States Conference contest to Oakland City (Ind.) University Saturday at Donahue Pavilion.

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's basketball lost a close, 61-51, River States Conference contest to Oakland City (Ind.) University Saturday at Donahue Pavilion.

The Celtics (1-19, 0-9 RSC) jumped out to an early lead after Isaiah Stein started the game off with a three-pointer 30 seconds in.

The Mighty Oaks (8-11, 2-7 RSC) tied the score twice before a three-pointer at the eight-minute mark gave Oakland City a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the game.

Carlow trailed by just seven points at halftime, while the Mighty Oaks rode a 10-0 run from the end of the first into the start of the second.

The Celtics went on its own 9-0 run just two minutes into the second half to trim Oakland City's lead to three points.

Griffin Ruhlman hit a lay-up, pushing Carlow to within two points of tying the game at 11:37, but an ensuing 13-0 run by the Mighty Oaks gave them a double-figure lead they carried through the remainder of regulation.

Stein hit three treys and led the Celtics with 14 points, two steals and two assists on the day.

Byron Gaskins added 11 points, two steals and two assists, while Nehemiah Brazil went 6 for 8 from the foul line with nine boards and four assists.

David Clary tallied five blocks in the effort.

Oakland City's Drake Moore led all scorers with 17 points.

Carlow out-rebounded the Mighty Oaks, 43-40, and scored 11 second-chance points to Oakland City's eight.

The Celtics scored 18 points off 16 Oakland City turnovers, and each team recorded eight blocks on the day.

The Celtics travel to Indiana University East Tuesday, Jan. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. RSC game.