OXFORD – The Oxford Blackhawks boys’ basketball team have seen many close games this season, including Wednesday’s MAC match-up against Sidney. Oxford was down by four points throughout the contest and had a great chance with a minute left. However, Sidney scored on the final possessions of the game to win 57-53.

Both teams played consistently throughout the game with Sidney taking the overall four-point lead right from halftime 26-22. Oxford played up tempo with the Sabers and even held a one-point lead with a minute left in regulation. However, they were limited beyond that, where they turned the ball over and were unable to recover or stop Sidney from scoring the go-ahead points.

Caden Rifanburg led the Blackhawks with 16 points, including two three-pointers. Eli Bennett had nine points with seven in the fourth quarter and scored Oxford’s final five team points. Donovan Rickard hit three three’s in the first half to settle for nine points as well.

Oxford drops to 3-6 on the season and 1-3 in the MAC standings. The Blackhawks head to Greene on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Scores by quarter:

SI 11 15 15 16—57

OX 12 10 15 16—53

SI: Connor Van der Sommen 24, Grady Loeffler 9, Jalen Reardon 8, Dylan Easton 6, Jesse Newell 6, Dean Taylor 2, Devin Baker 2.

OX: Caden Rifanburg 16, Eli Bennett 9, Donovan Rickard 9, Ben Sheridan 8, Sam Hendricks 7, Jared Sheridan 4.

Three-pointers: SI 8 (Van der Sommen 4, Loeffler 3, Easton); OX 6 (Rickard 3, Rifanburg 2, Hendricks).