By Grady Thompson

Sun Sports Contributor

OXFORD - A slow offensive start plagued the Oxford varsity boys basketball team in a 57-41 loss Wednesday night at home versus the Delhi Bulldogs.

The Blackhawks were scoreless for nearly 9 minutes between the first and second quarters, and they were unable to recover later on. Delhi took advantage and went on a 15-0 run during the period.

“I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but it was a lot,” said Oxford Head Coach Tim Davis. “And then we compounded that with some missed layups, we missed some easy buckets.”

Oxford Senior Guard Trenton Lyons had 7 points off the bench in the second quarter to keep Oxford in the game and send the Blackhawks into the half behind Delhi 33-16. Coming out of the half, Coach Davis went with a bigger lineup that would eventually bring Oxford back within 8.

“We have a few different lineups that I use, some are faster, some are bigger,” said Coach Davis. “A lot of the time our defense depends on what lineup we have out there. The beginning of the second half was the bigger, stronger guys.”

Seniors Kevin Davis and Nick Neer each dropped in 6 a piece in the third to fuel the Oxford comeback. Davis and Neer would lead the Blackhawks in scoring with 14 and 12 points respectively.

But it was the Bulldogs and strong play from senior Connor Gioffe who would ultimately fend off Oxford’s second half surge. Gioffe had a game high 17 points, 8 of which came in the fourth quarter as assurance points for Delhi.

The loss moves Oxford to 4-6 on the season. The Blackhawk boys will travel Walton on Friday as they try to climb back to .500.