S-E goes cold from the floor in 4th in loss to Hawkeyes

OTEGO – The Blackhawks went 11-for-13, shooting 85 percent in the fourth quarter at the free throw line. Their sharp shooting at the stripe pushed Oxford past the host Unatego Spartans in a Midstate Athletic Conference battle Monday night, 52-43.

The Spartans led through the first three quarters of play in the contest but the deadeye foul shooting by both Jason Davis and Jacob Murrer of the Blackhawks allowed the visiting team to take the lead late in the contest, coming out with the victory.

Davis shot a perfect 5-for-5 down the stretch at the foul line while Murrer went 5-for-6. Their combined total of 10 made free throws added to Alex Smith’s one accounted for more than half of Oxford’s points during their 21-10 run in the closing quarter.

Counting for 13 of his game-high 25 points, Davis shot 13-for-18 throughout the contest at the line (72 percent).

Unatego held a five point lead at the end of the first quarter but Oxford chipped away at the small margin a little at a time.

The Spartans led 19-17 at the break and continued with the same lead after the two teams matched point-for-point in the third.

Austin Faulkner of Unatego started the game out strong, scoring seven in the opening quarter. He finished with a team-best 16 points for Unatego. Miles Mohrein and Shea Barber scored 11 and nine points, respectively.

Davis also collected 13 rebounds in the contest, giving him another double-double on the season. Murrer ended the night with eight points and was matched by teammate C.J. Smith in the scoring column. Smith added nine boards.

Alex Smith of Oxford came in the off the bench and played big minutes for his team, dropping seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter scoring rout for the Blackhawks.

Oxford travels to Franklin for a non-conference matchup at 7:15 p.m., Wednesday.

Oxford 52, Unatego 43

Oxford 6 11 14 21 – 52

Unatego 10 9 14 10 – 43

Oxford: Jacob Murrer 1 6-8-8, Josh Christian 0; Jason Davis 5 13-18-25, Nick Cirello 0; Alex Smith 4 1-3-9, Matt Roach 1 0-0-2, CJ Smith 4 0-4-8; Brad Beckwith 0. TOTALS: 15 20-33-52.

Unatego: Shea Barber 3 1-2-9, Miles Mohrien 5 0-1-11, David Fletcher 2 0-0-5, Tyler Innes 1 0-0-2, Austin Faulkner 7 2-5-16. TOTALS: 18 3-8-43.

Fouled out: (U) Barber and Faulkner. 3-point goals: (O) Davis 2; (U) Barber 2, Mohrien 1, Fletcher 1. Officials: Davis and Sanders.