Oak Park Snaps Evanston's Boys Basketball 5-Game Winning String

Oak Park-River Forest sank 8-of-10 free throw attempts in the final 1 minute, 53 seconds and snapped Evanston’s five-game winning string with a 70-65 non-conference victory Saturday night.

Those free throws thwarted a comeback attempt by the visiting Wildkits, now 14-5 overall. Evanston never led after the first quarter but battled back behind Will Jones (15 points, 8 rebounds) and Elijah Henry (9 points, 8 rebounds) before falling short.

Two free throws by Oak Park junior Dallis Flowers stretched the home team’s lead to 63-56 with 1:22 remaining, but 3-point baskets by Evanston’s Jones and Nibra White --- the last with 34 seconds remaining --- kept  it a two possession game at 66-62.

But Flowers delivered two more free throws and Simmie Cobbs (game-high 24 points) added a layup before Jones tossed in a 3-point basket at the buzzer for the final margin.

Leading 27-25 at halftime, the Huskies netted the first seven points of the second half. Evanston then closed the gap to 43-39 after three quarters on a drive by Jones with two seconds left in the period.