OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Jan. 3, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian men's basketball team utilized a strong second half to run away from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Monday night as they claimed an 80-68 victory in the Nest.
The Eagles endured a bit of a slow start during the first half against the Drovers as they fought for the lead throughout and trailed a good portion of the period.
After back-to-back ties, the Eagles yielded the lead to the Drovers and fell to a four-point deficit with 15:43 showing on the clock. OC's Chad Endres quickly responded with a basket from behind the arc and was followed by an Eric Randall basket to regain the lead just a minute later.
Following Randall's basket, neither team lead by more than two points until the Drovers took a three-point lead with 5:48 left till the half. The tide quickly turned back to the Eagles minutes later as they put up a four-point advantage with 2:09 showing on the clock.
During the last two minutes of the period, however, the USAO men put up six unanswered points to take a two-point lead at 30-28 heading into halftime.
At the start of the second period, OC's Will Reinke tied things up with an inside basket only to be answered by a three pointer from the Drovers. The Eagles' Jeff Crocker, however, retaliated with a three pointer of his own to retie the game.
Following the tie at 33-33, Andre Vaughn netted another basket for the Eagles to take the lead for the last time. With 15:42 still left in the period, the Eagles put up a 12-2 run to create a 10-point margin over the Drovers.
Later in the half, the Eagles put up another run of 14-2 to advance to a 20-point advantage with just 4:13 left to play and increased the gap to 21 a minute later.
The Drovers followed with seven unanswered points to come with 14 points with 1:56 left in regulation and utilized two late baskets to cut the deficit to 12 before the buzzer to leave the Eagles the win at 80-68.
Reinke paced the Eagles for the night with 23 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, and four assists while swingman Endres totaled another 17 points and five rebounds for OC.
Crocker helped out with 10 points of his own and an additional eight assists and seven rebounds. Fellow guard Brandon Troutman contributed from the outside going 3 for five from behind the arc and adding another nine points to the Eagles' total.
The win puts the Eagles at 9-4 for the season and at 3-3 for conference play. The Eagles will join the women's team in hosting Mid-America Christian University (Okla.) on Thursday for their next game at home. The women are scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. with the men scheduled to follow at 8 p.m.
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