Oxford’s Donovan Rickard (19 points) and B-G’s James Hogroian (30 points) were the leading scorers for their respective teams. Hogroian (Blue #42) helped B-G secure the close 54-51 win. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

OXFORD – The Oxford Blackhawks and the Bainbridge-Guilford Bobcats boys’ basketball team kicked off the new year in a MAC league match-up on Thursday evening. B-G fought back in the final eight minutes to take the late 54-51 victory. B-G is now 2-1 in the MAC standings, behind Delhi and Greene, and sits at 6-3 overall.

Oxford started off hot with banking multiple three’s off the hands of Donovan Rickard and Jared Sheridan. Caden Rifanburg had his share of three’s too and it came down to him with a chance to tie it in the final seconds, but was unsuccessful.

Rickard didn’t waste any time with hitting a three to open the scoring for Oxford and hit three in the first quarter alone. He also started the second half with a three as well. Rickard finished with a team-high 19 points with five of the team’s eight three-pointers. Caden Rifanburg finished behind him with 14 points as Sheridan had nine.

Oxford held the lead in three of four quarters before they were slowed down offensively and B-G started balancing out. James Hogroian pushed the Bobcats’ offense to start the first half, but one man’s efforts became a team effort in the second half to capture the late victory. Hogroian had 22 of his total of 30 points alone in the first half and scored the game-winning basket and added on with free-throws in the final possession.

Michael Lipani, Isaiah Hampton, and Tim Kinter provided the long ball for the Bobcats when they needed it, especially with the Blackhawks putting more pressure on Hogroian. Kinter’s three helped tie the game with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, Oxford would continue to go-ahead until the B-G defense held them in the last few plays of regulation.

B-G (6-3) heads to Unadilla Valley on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. while Oxford (3-5) hosts Sidney on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

Scores by quarter:

BG 12 14 12 16–54

OX 16 17 12 6–51

BG: James Hogroian 30, Michael Lipani 10, Arien Sherman 8, Tim Kinter 3, Isaiah Hampton 3.

OX: Donovan Rickard 19, Caden Rifanburg 14, Jared Sheridan 9, Eli Bennett 5, Ben Sheridan 2, Kyle Benjamin 2.

Three-pointers: BG 4 (Lipani 2, Kinter, Hampton); OX 8 (Rickard 5, Rifanburg 2, J Sheridan).