BrianLester posted on February 04, 2012 21:16
By BRIAN LESTER
They were down 13 points in the first half. They trailed by 10 at one point in the second half.
Yet, the University of Findlay Oilers were not about to let adversity get the best of them against Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon at the Berry Events Center.
Rather than fold and fall victim to a sweep on the rugged Upper Peninsula trip, the Oilers responded the way you expect a good team to do on the road and left town with an 85-76 victory.
The most interesting thing about the win is that one of the forgotten men got the job done for Findlay. Rob Marsden will never be mistaken for being a star and he probably wasn't a focal point of the Northern Michigan scouting report.
But he is a senior, and in this moment, on this day, he played like a senior.
Marsden scored 13 points, a career-high, 11 coming during the remarkable comeback by the Oilers. It was a brilliant performance by a player who is as modest as they come and who shows up ready to work hard every single day.
The Oilers needed someone to provide a lift and Marsden was there to provide it against a Wildcats team that played as if its life hung in the balance.
What is easy to forget about Marsden is that he was a part of the 2009 NCAA Division II national championship team. He was part of a team that cemented its status as one of only four perfect national champions in D-II history.
Granted, Marsden did not play that season, but he was around the team every day in practice. That experience is valuable, and in this game, that experience paid off.
What I liked about this win was the way the Oilers came together and played like a team when it really mattered. The way it got double-digit performances from five players, including a 19-point performance by Greg Kahlig.
Kyle Caiola poured in 16 points, hitting all nine of his shots from the free-throw line, and Jake Heagen, a freshman who often plays beyond his years, came off the bench to drill three treys, the highlights of his 11-point effort.
Aaron Robinson, a defensive standout, added 10 points. The Oilers shot 56.8 percent from the field and proved that they have the ability to force a team to pick its poison.
Findlay finally broke the mental block of winning on the road in the GLIAC. This is the kind of win that can give a team a surge of confidence. The Oilers took a big step forward and are still very much in the hunt for a conference championship and NCAA Division II tournament berth.
Two more road games await Findlay this week, but if the Oilers come out and play the way the did on Saturday, ready to respond to any adversity they may face on the road in a rugged conference that typically doesn't get the credit it deserves from a national standpoint, they will win the next two games.
February is where the best separate themselves from the rest. The Oilers are clearly in a position to be one of the best.
Follow me on Twitter: @BLester1993.