Records Fall as Oilers Claim South Division Title

Kimbrough Shoots Himself into the UF Record Books    

By Kevin Schrock
@KRock_6

The threes came early and the threes came often on Thursday night when the Oilers played host to the Tiffin Dragons. Findlay took its rival out of the game early and the focus quickly moved to

the records that seemed to be falling left and right in the team’s division clinching win. Martyce Kimbrough brought the Oiler faithful a night to remember. He set the school record for three pointers in a game and season while the Oilers also tied the team record for 19 three pointers in a game. Kimbrough finished with 11 three pointers in the game.

The Oilers hoisted up 12 triples before 10 minutes had run off the clock and all but one of them found the bottom of the net. The barrage of shots quickly put Tiffin on their heels and it gave the Oilers a 39-18 lead.

“We’re a very good shooting team and I think they decided to try to pick up the pace of the game a little bit and play some different types of defenses to try to keep us off balance, “ said Findlay coach Charlie Ernst. “The best thing we did was share the ball, make the extra pass, and knock down threes.”

Kimbrough, who was fresh off of a game where he buried eight three pointers, needed the same amount to break the single season record of 95 set by Nathan Hyde in 2010. That wouldn’t be a problem.

By halftime the Oilers had built a 61-32 lead on 23-33 shooting from the field and 14-21 shooting from outside. Kimbrough had seven of those triples. He would go on to not only hit that eighth three to break the season record, the junior knocked down 11 from all corners of the gym. That put him in sole possession of the single game record that had been set by Greg Kahlig in 2014.

“It’s about as locked in as I’ve been personally,” said Kimbrough. “I saw a few go in and got some confidence and our coaches kept calling plays for me and my teammates kept looking for me so I give a lot of credit to them.”

Although this team already broke the record for assists in a game earlier in the year, they gave it another run on this day but came up three short.

The Dragons tried to mount a comeback but the Oiler offense proved to be too strong. The final tally ended up at 105-87. Findlay shot an incredible 40-63 (63.5%) from the field and 19-32 (59.4%) from outside en route to clinching the GLIAC South division title.

“It’s been over five months since our first workout and that’s how long the college basketball season is,” said Ernst. “When you win a south division title it puts that into perspective. It’s not one game and it’s not one possession.”

Kimbrough finished with a career high 41 points on 14-19 shooting and 11-15 shooting from beyond the arc.

“I’m not sure that we’ve had a better shooter play at Findlay from the three point line and we’ve had some really good ones,” said Ernst. “He might be the best and that says a lot.”

Now the Oilers set their sights on the Ashland Eagles who will come to Findlay on Saturday. It will be senior day and the team’s last home contest before the conference tournament.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *