Willie Harper scored 16 points for OC in a 68-65 loss to No. 16 Southern Nazarene.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 5, 2012) – Willie Harper scored 16 points and fueled a late Oklahoma Christian rally, but the Eagles fell just short in a 68-65 loss to No. 16 Southern Nazarene on Thursday night on Dan Hays Court in the Eagles' Nest.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for OC (10-4, 3-3 Sooner Athletic Conference), which suffered its second home-court loss of the season, both to SAC foes.
The Eagles trailed SNU (11-3, 4-2) 66-54 with 3:09 left but had two chances to forge a tie in the closing seconds after Harper hit a baseline jumper to pull OC within 68-65 with 56 seconds left.
After an empty SNU possession, OC turned the ball over with 10.5 seconds left after a pass by Devan White, intended for Eric Randall, went out of bounds. SNU's Aaron Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 9.2 seconds left, but without a timeout, OC managed only a 35-foot shot by Randall that fell well short in the final moments.
"We weren't as organized as we needed to be because I was out of timeouts," OC coach Dan Hays said.
In the end, the Eagles couldn't overcome SNU's 53.2 percent shooting (25 of 47), even though OC shot a respectable 48.1 percent (25 of 52) and committed only 10 turnovers, compared to 19 for SNU.
"They just won it," Hays said. "We didn't lose it or give it away. They just made some plays to win the game. … They just had some guys who stepped up and made some big plays and we had some guys who stepped up and made big plays. They just made more than we did."
OC played from behind most of the night. The Crimson Storm took the lead for good about six minutes into the game and led by as many as 13 points in the first half before settling for a 35-26 halftime lead.
A three-point play by White pulled OC within 43-41 with 13:04 left, but SNU scored the next 11 points. Tyrone Lyons' basket with 9:20 left gave the Crimson Storm a 54-41 bulge. SNU later extended its lead to 14 points at 58-44 on a basket by Jon West with 7:48 left.
Harper canned a pair of 3-pointers to start the OC comeback that nearly forced overtime.
"We just didn't quite make enough shots," Hays said. "We didn't play poorly. They just had a little bit more energy and they were a little bit more solid."
OC center Will Reinke finished with 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists, giving him 16 assists during his past two games. Kendre Talley also added 12 points for the Eagles before fouling out in the final moments.
West led SNU with 16 points, while Lyons and Horace McGloster scored 13 each and Daniel White added 11.
OC will visit USAO on Saturday.
