No. 13 Oilers remain red hot, rout Northwood

FINDLAY --The University of Findlay men's basketball team just can't help but win, it seems. Despite its second consecutive game without its top performer Will Aljancic (16.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 1.4 ast), Findlay once again notched a nearly 20-point victory.The Oilers defeated Northwood University 83-64 on Saturday, thanks to a group effort in the scoring department. Eight Oilers finished between 6 and 15 points, as the players have stepped up across the board to make up for Aljancic's scoring output. The Oilers had a little trouble early in the first half, playing sloppy and struggling on defense. A few minutes before the halftime buzzer, however, things clicked. Findlay was up 22-16 before they went on an 8-0 run and ended the first half up 44-29. A quick 4-0 run in 30 seconds from Northwood had shortened the lead to 22-16, prompting a timeout from Oilers coach Charlie Ernst. Following the timeout, the Oilers completed their 8-0 run on a layup from Anthony Johnson, a three-pointer from Ian Ioppolo, another layup from Alex Kendall, and a free throw from Mason Brandt. UF started the second half with two consecutive 3-pointers, one from Johnson and one from Josh Thorbahn. This six-point swing was a sign of things to come, as the Oilers dominated the second half. Once again, Findlay wore a team down and took over in the latter half of a game. Findlay was led by freshman Ian Ioppolo, who scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds while hitting three triples, stepping into the starting five for Aljancic. Johnson ended with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, knocking down two from downtown. Jagger Landers added 11 points and four rebounds. "We come in every game like it's a big game," FHS grad and Oiler standout Max Roth said. "We take it one game at a time, if you look too far ahead you're gonna fall behind and lose a couple. Us taking it one game at a time and just knowing me have to step up in roles that we typically don't have because Will wasn't here, I think it's big for the team. It's a big improvement and it shows who we are."Roth finished with 11 points, three assists, and three steals. Mason Brandt recorded nine points, five rebounds, and two steals. Brandt has registered nine games with two or more steals, with this being his third in a row. Thorbahn had seven points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Kendall notched seven points and five rebounds, while Steele Meister added six points. Findlay High alum Jake Bishop scored two points with four rebounds and two steals. Junior transfer Mekhi Elmore, who scored 20 points off the bench in his Oiler debut on December 21 before injuring his hand, returned to the lineup on Saturday. In 19 minutes, Elmore recorded two points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. "We're trying to work Mekhi (Elmore) in now," Ernst said. "Steele's playing the four, because Will's out. Ian's with the first group. There's just some moving parts there. At the end of the day, guys stepped up and we made the plays we needed to to win. But in terms of our polish and our execution, I would say it was very average today."Findlay's win over Northwood improved its win streak to a whopping 10 games, having not lost since November 23, and just once since last season's finale. The Oilers are now 14-1, and extended its home winning record against Northwood University to 19-0. As a team, the Oilers had 13 steals, with five players recording 2 or more steals. "We're getting deeper into the season," Ernst said. "Teams have a better idea of how to attack us. I have to remind myself sometimes, we've got a lot of young players out there. They make freshman mistakes at times. I get more upset when our older guys make mistakes, because we don't have that many of them.""I think that it'll be good to get Will back," Ernst continued. "He's feeling a lot better. I expect Monday, come practice time, we're gonna have our full load of players, hopefully, for the first time all year. I wanna get back to establishing ourselves with pace on both ends of the floor. We're a little choppy right now, and that's gonna be our focal point this week in practice."Findlay is slated to host G-MAC rival Ashland in its next game. The Eagles (9-6, 5-3 G-MAC) are led by six-foot-seven junior big man Maceo Williams, who is putting up 23 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists per game this season while shooting 68-percent from the field and 46-percent from beyond the arc. The Oilers will take on the Eagles in the second of a doubleheader at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening. FINDLAYIoppolo 6-0–15, Johnson 5-1–13, Landers 4-3–11, Roth 4-2–11, Brandt 3-3–9, Thorbahn 3-0–7, Kendall 3-0–7, Meister 3-0–6, Bishop 0-2–2, Elmore 1-0–2. TOTALS: 32-11–83.NORTHWOODWatson 8-1–17, Eklund 4-1–11, Ellis 4-2–11, Smith 3-0–8, Szamrej 2-2–6, Pruitt 1-1–4, Rogers 1-0–3, Morgan 1-0–2, Ware 1-0–2. TOTALS: 24-9–64.HALFTIME SCORE: Findlay, 44-29.3-POINT FIELD GOALS: 8-23 (Ioppolo 3); Northwood 7-24 (Eklund, Smith 2).REBOUNDS: Findlay 40 (Johnson 6); Northwood 36 (Morgan 9).TURNOVERS: Findlay 12, Northwood 19.