SHEFFIELD — The outcome of the game might have turned when Morgan Jones connected on a 40-foot shot as time expired in the first half.
“I was excited at first,” Morgan said of the shot that gave Oberlin a 28-24 lead at halftime. “But then we had to discuss our difficulties and how we needed to play improved defense.”
Yet it was the offense that got turned up a notch or two in the second half. The Phoenix scored 44 points in the last two quarters on Tuesday on the way to a 72-58 victory over Brookside in a Patriot Athletic Conference game.
Jones was the big reason for the offensive upsurge, scoring 16 of his 26 points after the intermission and dishing out four of his seven assists in the fourth quarter. In fact, Jones was responsible for 19 of Oberlin’s 20 points in the closing period.
“Morgan played a decent game,” Oberlin coach Kurt Russell said. “It wasn’t one of his best. He has had games where he has been more careful with the ball. But what he did tonight is what we expect of him. He’s the backbone of the team. He makes us go.”
Things started to get going for Oberlin (10-6, 6-3 PAC) near the end of the first quarter. After going 3-for-14 from the field to start the game the Phoenix made two of their last three shots in the first and scored the first eight points of the second quarter for a 19-12 lead. Brookside (1-11, 1-8) managed to tie the score at
24-24 with 1:20 left before Tehran Roundtree hit a free throw and Jones sank his long-range buzzer beater.
“We didn’t come out with a lot of intensity,” Russell said. “Maybe it was because we’d won three close games with Wellington, Keystone and Buckeye. I said Brookside is not a bad team and they will play tough.  Three weeks ago we would’ve lost a game like this, but we kept our composure.”
“We talked about trying to control the tempo,” Brookside coach Brent Schremp said. “I didn’t want us to get into a sprinting match with Oberlin. The kids did a good job of it.”
Until the third quarter. Oberlin went on an 11-3 run to increase its lead to 13 points and was ahead by as many as 16 points before the end of the period.
Three-point shooting had lot to do with Oberlin’s offensive improvement. The Phoenix hit 10 of them after making no threes in the first quarter. Kris Robinson had five bombs.
The Cardinals did pull as close as seven points with 1:46 to play, but Jones fed Robinson on the baseline at 1:31 and converted a three-point play with 1:18 to go to make the score
68-56.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7137 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Oberlin 72, Brookside 58

OBERLIN (72): Dominique Stamper 2-0-5, Kris Robinson 9-0-23, Morgan Jones 9-5-26, Tehran Rountree 4-2-11, Shwuan Stevenson 2-0-4, Steve Kilgore 1-1-3, Austin Pinkston 0-0-0. Totals 27-8-72.
BROOKSIDE (58): Jared Ramirez 8-4-23, Pat Kilbane 2-0-5, Dugan Radeff 0-2-2, Rocky Radeff 2-1-5, Nick Jackman 7-2-19, Brandon Arroyo 2-0-4, Chris Welch 0-0-0, Ronnie Gunter 0-0-0. Totals 21-9-58.
Oberlin    11    17    24    20    —    72
Brookside    12    12    17    17    —    58
Three-point goals: Oberlin 10 (Robinson 5, Jones 3, Stamper, Roundtree), Brookside 7 (Jackman 3, Ramirez 3, Kilbane). Rebounds: Oberlin 24 (Stevenson 9), Brookside 23 (Jackman 5). Turnovers: Oberlin 12, Brookside 17. Total fouls: Oberlin 13, Brookside 14. Fouled out: None.
Junior varsity: Brookside, 39-31.

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