The College of the Ozarks Bobcats hosted their regular season home opener Saturday in the annual Homecoming game and fell in a nailbiter to the visiting Trojans of Hannibal-LaGrange University, 66-60.

The Bobcats opened the scoring with a Kyle Flavin jumper on the first possession of the game, but the Trojans quickly responded. Xavier Oduor put the Bobcats on top with a basket and a Flavin three and another jumper opened a 9-5 Bobcat advantage. A Trojan 5-0 run gave them their first lead of the game and the tug of war was underway. The defense for both teams stepped up their effort and points were at a premium over the next several minutes. Terry Gupton and Josh Linehan put points on the board but by the midway point in the half, the Bobcats trailed, 15-13. An Andrew Mitchell three tied the score at 17 with 8:37 left in the half and Devin Carroll followed with a trey of his own to put the Bobcats back on top. A Matt Luebbert basket and a pair of Seth Soden free throws capped a 10-0 Bobcat run, resulting in a 24-17 Bobcat lead. The Trojans bounced back with a run of their own and by the 2:07 mark had battled back to tie the game, 27-27. Devin Carroll connected on a deep three and a basket to end the half and the Bobcats took a 32-27 lead to the intermission.

A Terry Gupton basket was followed by a Soden three to open the second half and the Bobcats had the momentum. Four Trojan free throws broke the Bobcat run and a cold shooting stretch allowed the Trojans to climb back into the game. The Bobcats answered the Trojan Challenges with a Matt Luebbert jumper, a Terry Gupton three, and a pair of Mitchell free throws to maintain a 44-38 advantage at the 12:13 mark. Bryce Stark hit a three for the Trojans and the lead had been reduced to 44-41. Cainen Mar responded with a basket but the trojans had stolen the momentum. A 6-0 Trojan run on the heels of cold shooting by the Bobcats returned the lead to the Trojans and the battle intensified. Josh Linehan stopped the run with a pair of free throws, but the Trojans continued their attack. With 5:49 remaining, A Josh Linehan basket followed a two by Matt Luebbert and the Bobcats trailed HLGU, 56-52. Andrew Mitchell hit a jumper to cut the lead to 56-54 at the 4:08 mark, and with 2:48 remaining, Devin Carroll drained a pair from the charity stripe to tie the score, 56-56. Free throws were the only offense by either team as time ran down to :30. A Bryce Stark shot in the paint ended that streak and put the Trojans up 61-57. A Seth Soden three, with :03 left in the game was the only answer the Bobcats could provide to the Trojans final five points and the game went to HLGU, 66-60.

Seth Soden led the Bobcat offense with 11 points, followed by Devin Carroll with 10. Terry Gupton and Andrew Mitchell chipped in eight, Kyle Flavin added seven, and Josh Linehan and Matt Luebbert each added six. Xavier Oduor and Cainen Mar tacked on two points each to round out the Bobcat Scoring.

The Bobcats are at home again on Tuesday, November 8 when they host Missouri Baptist University in a 7 PM start.