By Nicole Laidlaw
Sports Correspondent
Oxford’s varsity boys basketball team has lost three straight games.
A 79-61 loss to Fenton Tuesday night brought the team’s record to 3-8 overall and 3-5 in the FML.
On Friday, Oxford lost 50-45 loss to Lapeer West.
The Wildcats started out very strong in the first quarter against the Panthers. They led 16-13 going into the second quarter.
Oxford’s momentum quickly changed in the next quarter. West held Oxford to only four points, while they put in an additional 11 points.
At the half, Oxford trailed the Panthers 24-20.
In the third quarter Oxford was still unable to put many points on the board, and only added nine points to their score.
‘I was pleased with their offensive performance in the first, but defensive and offensive intensity led to inconsistent play in the second and third quarter,? said Coach Steve Laidlaw.
Oxford rallied back late in the fourth quarter to put in another 16 points, but their sluggish play in the second and third quarter was too much to overcome for the Wildcats to win the game.
Senior Brandon Dugan led the Cats with 13 points and senior Adam Peterson followed with 10.
Coach Laidlaw credited junior Chris Keenist with a fine all around game.
Keenist put nine points on the board for the Cats and collected seven rebounds.
On Jan. 23, the Cats lost to Swartz Creek 55-49. They started out slow, trailing 27-14 at the half.
Oxford had a big scoring stretch in the third and tied the score up with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
They went into the fourth being down by one, but Swartz Creek increased the gap to take the game by six points.
Coach Laidlaw cited poor foul shooting and missed opportunities inside as the main reasons for Oxford not pulling out the win.
Brandon Dugan led Oxford in scoring with 15 points.
Adam Peterson added 13 to the board and junior Byron Nolde put in six by knocking down two 3-pointers.