Men's Basketball Lose by One Point to Albany Pharmacy

The Mighty Oaks dropped a close game, 58-57, on the road to HVIAC rival Albany Pharmacy.

The Mighty Oaks started the game with cold shooting, allowing the Panthers to jump out to a quick 19-9 lead, six minutes into the contest.  After an ESF timeout, the Mighty Oaks quickly cut into the lead and tied things back up at 19 led by Ryan Caldwell who finished with nine points in the first half. ESF was able to wrestle the lead away from Albany and marched into half time with a five-point advantage versus the Panthers.

The second half saw the Mighty Oaks maintain its half time lead but some key shooting from Albany kept the score close.  After losing junior point guard Dan Treadwell to an injury halfway through the half, the lead chipped away with six lead changes during the period.  Toward the end of the second half, the Panthers were able to mount a run of its own, taking a 58-53 lead.  Senior Sage Beemer pulled the Oaks closer with a basket to make the score 58-55.  On the following play, a crucial steal and layup by freshman Andrew Koch pulled ESF to within one at 58-57 with just over 56 seconds to play.  After a Mighty Oaks timeout, ESF sent Albany to the free-throw line.  Missing the front-end of the one-and-one, the Mighty Oaks came down with a chance to complete its comeback with just 27 seconds left. The Mighty Oaks missed its first go-ahead attempt, prompting head coach Scott Blair to call a timeout with 10 seconds remaining.  On the final play, Caldwell missed a heavily contest layup to win the game.

 Caldwell finished the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore Tyler Kuhn came off the bench and chipped in 15 points along with 12 rebounds in only 27 minutes of play.

This was the Mighty Oaks first conference loss of the season. They fall to 3-12 overall, 1-1 in the HVIAC conference. The team faces Pratt Institute Jan. 31 in a home conference game.