Men's basketball wins big over Virginia Peninsula 90-87 in overtime

Hampton, Va. - The Emory Oxford men's basketball team defeated Virginia Peninsula Community College in a hard-fought game that ended 90-87 in overtime.

The Eagles held the lead during different points in the first half, but Virginia Peninsula always came back to tie the game. The teams went into halftime tied at 41.

In the second, Oxford held the lead for most of the half. The team was up by nine points with a little over two minutes left. Three costly turnovers by the Eagles led to Virginia Peninsula scoring six points in the span of around a minute. Virginia tied the score at 75 on two free throws. After a missed basket by the Eagles, the game went into overtime.

Sophomore Ved Desai scored the first seven points for Oxford as the team came out strong in overtime. Up by one with 34 seconds left, sophomore Leo Etah hit a three to give the Eagles a little breathing room. Oxford was able to hang on in the end for the win.

Five Oxford players were in the double digits in scoring. Desai led the Eagles in scoring with 30 points. First-year Alex Straser had 13 points, while sophomores Jason Kim and Adeniyi Ogunlana had 11 each and Etah had 10. Desai also had 10 rebounds.

Oxford is now 8-5 overall. This is the team's first conference win this season.

The Eagles play again on the road against Camp Community College on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 3 p.m.