Men's Basketball 1/3/2025 8:28:00 AM

JACOB SAYS SPIRITS HIGH DESPITE OAKWOOD'S POOR START

TALLADEGA, Ala. – The numbers stick out like a sore thumb.

Oakwood University's men's basketball team is 1-12 overall and has lost 10 straight games.

The Ambassadors are 0-6 in HBCU Athletic Conference play and are currently in last place.

Don't try to tell that to Oakwood coach Simon Jacob. He's not buying it.

"I know what our record is, but I don't think there's much separation between the teams in our league," he said. "There may be one or two that are head and shoulders above the rest of us, but there's a lot of parity in our conference."

Oakwood will try to snap its long losing streak and pick up its first conference win of the season when it takes on Philander Smith today at the Talladega HBCUAC POD. Tipoff is set for noon.

The Ambassadors have played better of late, but haven't won a game since beating Washington Adventist back on Nov. 2.

"The last few games we've been right there with the exception of the SUNO game," Jacob said. "We've taken everybody's best shot. To me, it's going to come down to the teams that are willing to play hard for 40 minutes.

"As a coaching staff, we have to do a better job with our Xs and Os. We've got to put our players in a position to finish games."

Oakwood's inability to shoot the ball consistently has been a big problem.

The Ambassadors are shooting 39.8 percent from the field, including 27.1 percent from 3-point range, and 53.1 percent from the free throw line. They are also averaging just 65.8 points per game, while giving up more than 80 per outing.

"Our shooting percentage is about average for our league," Jacob said. "We need to do a better job of getting touches in the paint and not take so many 3s. That has been emphasized and hopefully we'll do a better job this half."

Jordan Bell and Jamarkus Alexander have been Oakwood's best players thus far.

Bell is averaging a team-high 14 points per game, while Alexander, who joined the team recently, is averaging 11.6 per game.

"Our spirits are high," Jacob said. "We believe we can turn our season around."

Jacob said senior shooting guard Nicholas Kennard has elected to leave the team due to personal reasons. Jacob is hopeful Kennard will return next season after redshirting.

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