Kieran Coffey

Evening Sun Contributor

OXFORD- It was a story of missed opportunities for the Oxford Blackhawks boys' varsity basketball team last night at home against the Unatego Spartans as they lost the game 57-40.

“We shot 26 percent from the field, 15 for 58. We shot 51 percent last Friday in Hancock. Unatego applied some decent pressure and we just didn’t seem to be able to execute on offense and get the shots that we needed. When we got the shots we needed, we didn’t put the ball in the hole,” said Blackhawks head coach Tim Davis.

The final score didn’t tell how close the game actually was. In the first quarter, Oxford got off to a strong start and led the game 9-5 with less than four minutes left in the quarter. Of those nine, number 33, Kevin Davis, had seven. He finished as Oxford’s leading scorer for the game, netting 19 points. After the Blackhawks stellar start, Unatego went on a nine point run going into the second quarter to lead 14-9.

At half time, the Blackhawks were locked in a close game, down by six, 22-16. The third quarter is where the action really heated up. After going down 29-18, Oxford went on an eight point run to bring the deficit down to just three points midway through the quarter. Unatego called a timeout and immediately afterwards drained a three pointer, courtesy of number 22, Braedon Beadle, to kill any momentum that the Blackhawks had going. Beadle was the Spartans leading scorer, ending the night with 17.

Going into the fourth quarter, Oxford was down by 14. A dramatic late comeback never became a reality and the Spartans killed the game off late in the quarter going on a six-point run with under three minutes left in the game. It finished 57-40.

The only positive that Oxford could take from the game was, “The final buzzer went off so we could go home,” said Coach Davis. Oxford’s next game will be against Whitney Point at the Greene tournament on Dec. 29.

Team Statistics; Unatego:  Zach Youngs, 2 0-1-4; Cooper Thayer, 1 0-0-2; J. Smith, 4 1-6-10; Dean Reed, 5 2-2-12; Braeden Beadle, 5 5-5-17; Derek Beames, 4 1-2-0; Z. Carey, 1 0-0-3. Oxford:  Damion Maricle, 2 0-0-4; Jason Davis, 0; Josh Nelson 1 1-2-3; Rece Camadine, 2 0-0-4; A. Crawford, 0; Trenton Lyons, 1 1-2-3; Angelo Gonzalez, 0 2-2-2; Steven Ehly, 0; Kevin Davis, 7 3-4-19; Harry Oliver 2 0-0-5.

Score by quarter:

Team 1 2 3 4 Total

Unatego 10 12 22 13 57

Oxford 9 7 14 10 40