Rocklin, CA:

For the second straight conference tilt, the Oaks found themselves in a real barn burner.  A mere 48 hours ago Menlo put together a comeback for the ages inside Haynes-Prim, erasing a 12 point deficit with only three minutes left, to take out Simpson 74-73.  Similar story…different ending as the Oaks fell to William Jessup tonight by a final of 61-59. 

Tied at 54 with 3:01 to go, Menlo's Carlos Monroy drained a three pointer to give the Oaks a 57-54 lead in the game's final minutes.  40 seconds later with only 2:21 left, Jessup responded, doing so in a big was as senior Patrick Adelman hit a three of his own to knot the score at 57-57. 

Adelman's trey would turn out to be the final field goal of the game, as the last two minutes of the heated affair would turn into a free throw shooting contest.  First it was Menlo's Tim Tatum who made one of two to give the Oaks a one point advantage inside of two minutes.  Tatum would finish with a game high 19 points, giving him 45 in the last two contests. 

Now with the Warriors down by one at 58-57, senior Marqus Crawford stepped to the free throw line and nailed both foul shots to give his team the lead with only 1:36 to go.  For Crawford, who ended the night with a team high 16, it was only the beginning of his late night heroics. 

First, with 29 seconds left and Menlo down one, Tatum was able to hit one of two again from the charity stripe to deadlock the score at 59.  24 seconds later the aforementioned Crawford was fouled, sending the native of San Jose to the line with a chance to win the game.

Crawford would deliver, knocking down both shots, and after a ChaRunn Jones three pointer at the buzzer went begging, William Jessup held on, taking it 61-59. 

With the tough loss, the Oaks drop to 1-1 in conference and 3-15 overall.  Menlo will try to improve to 2-1 in the Cal PAC as they return home to take on Pacific Union this Thursday, January 15^th.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm.