OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Feb. 3, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian men's basketball team suffered an 83-78 loss on the road to Mid-America Christian University (Okla.) on Thursday night.
A very close back-and-forth game ensued between Eagles and Evangels as the match included a total 11 ties and 24 lead changes.
The Eagles shot well during the first half, with 57 percent accuracy from the field, and led the majority of the period.
Mid-America Christian claimed the first lead, but a response three-pointer from Andre Vaughn put the Eagles on top for the next several minutes until the Evangels took a one-point lead with 13:05 to play.
Just 20 seconds later, however, the Eagles regained the lead and held it till the end of the period. With 8:45 showing on the clock, the OC men had created a seven-point lead before the Evangels closed the gap to just one point three minutes later.
The Eagles followed with an 8-0 run to take a nine-point lead with 2:44 left till the half, but the MACU men followed with eight unanswered points of their own to close the gap to just one with 31 seconds left to play. A final basket from OC Kendre Talley gave the Eagles a three-point advantage heading into the half.
As the second half started, both teams fought back and fourth with lead change after lead change. From 19:07 left to play until 8:19 was left on the clock, the game held within a three-point margin.
At 8:19, the Eagles took a four-point lead with a two pointer from Chad Endres. Despite such, the Evangels quickly made up the difference and the game held at a one-point margin until 23 seconds remained when MACU connected on a three to take a five-point lead.
OC's Will Reinke responded with a final basket to cut the Evangel lead to three, but two last free throws from MACU solidified an 83-78 loss for the Eagles.
Reinke had no problem scoring on the Evangels as he totaled a 29-point game with nine rebounds and four assists, to lead the Eagles for the evening.
Vaughn tallied a nine-point game while Jeff Crocker, Kendre Talley, and Eric Randall all totaled eight points for the evening.
With the loss, the Eagles fall to 14-8 overall and to 8-7 for conference play. The OC men will join the women in hosting Oklahoma City University at home on Saturday with the women's game starting at 6 p.m. and the men's to follow at 8 p.m.
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