Perry’s freebies lift Rochester past Oxford
HIGH ABOVE: Rochester's Taylor Perry tries to shoot above Oxford's Max Goerge during Thursday's OAA Blue Division contest. Courtesy Photo | Kirk Bearse, www.catsdenphoto.com
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
OXFORD — Sometimes a team must locate its will power to win a basketball game. That was the case Thursday for Rochester.
Despite shooting just 32 percent from the floor (18-for-58), 50 percent from the foul line (6-for-12) and 31 percent from 3-point range (7-for-23), all among the lowest of the season for the Falcons, Rochester found a way to squeak out a 49-48, come-from-behind, OAA Blue Division victory over host Oxford.
“I don’t think we deserve to win,” admitted Rochester coach John Pleasant, a 1998 graduate of Oxford. “I thought we got outplayed, out-coached. They want it more than we did. But still we found a way to win. We made the plays at the end.”
Rochester (4-3, 3-0), which has not won a conference title since 1999-2000, is tied atop of the league standings with Bloomfield Hills Lahser. The Falcons have not lived up to expectations so far this season, but are now 2-3 in games decided by eight points or less.
Rochester dropped three non-league games, with those three losses a combined less than 20 points, but have won close contests against Detroit City and now Oxford.
“We lost three very close games, all games we should have won, so it’s nice to know that when we don’t play well we found a way to win a close game,” said Pleasant. “We made missed a lot of shots in this game. But Taylor made some big free throws at the end and started to make some shots in the fourth quarter.”
FOR BETTER COURT VISION: Oxford's Michael Kitchner looks for a open man against Rochester. Courtesy Photo | Kirk Bearse, www.catsdenphoto.com
Oxford, which won just seven games last seasons, is coming off four straight losing seasons and has recorded just five winnings seasons in the past 20 years. The Wildcats have made long strides but are still trying to learn how to win.
“We need to learn how to execute in close games. We don’t have a lot of experience in our guard play, but we are getting more and more experience and we are learning from it,” said Oxford coach Paul Marfia. “It’s hard because we made the same mistakes as we did in some other games (earlier in the year) on shot selection. That’s the thing that might not be as obvious. We also need to take care of the basketball. Rochester is a good team and well-coached and they made some big plays in the fourth quarter.”
In the third quarter, both teams struggled to shoot the ball, combining for eight field goals. The Wildcats outscored the Falcons 15-10 in the third to go up 40-32 entering the final frame.
The Falcons used a 17-8 run in the fourth quarter, capped by two free throws from junior forward Taylor Perry with 24 seconds left that proved to be the difference. Rochester outscored Oxford 7-2 in the final three minutes.
The Wildcats’ Tyler Rose missed a three-point attempt with two seconds left that would have won the game.
Oxford turned the ball over 23 times in the contest and were only 13-for-23 (57 percent) from the foul line and 16-for-41 (39 percent) from the floor overall.
UP IN ARMS: Rochester's Paris Pereira snares this rebound away as Oxford's Jacques Toussaint closes in during Thursday's OAA Blue Division contest. Courtesy Photo | Dan Stickradt
Rochester opened the game on a 9-2 run before seemingly a lid was put over the basket. The Falcons did not score in the final 4:19 of the first quarter and did not score again until the 6:15 mark of the second stanza, a scoreless period of 6:04.
Oxford built a 13-9 lead by that point and led throughout the second quarter, eventually settling for a 25-22 lead at the half. Rochester closed the half on a 9-4 run after trailing by as many as eight points in the second quarter.
Perry led Rochester with 17 points despite shooting only 7-for-21 from the floor and added nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Paris Pereira added 13 points, four assists and three steals and Nick Bradley chipped in with 12 points, all on 3-pointers, for the Falcons.
Mark Hazelwood led Oxford with 16 points. Jacques Toussaint added six points, 10 rebounds and three steals, and Chris Calvin had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
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Category: Clarkston, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester
