BETHANY, Okla. (Jan. 1, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian men's basketball team fell 79-73 on the road to No. 12 Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) in Saturday's new year's conference game.
The Crimson Storm took the lead first with a pair of free throw baskets before OC's Devan White caught a fast break to tie things up at 2-2.
After exchanging baskets, the Eagles took a three-point lead after a White nailed a shot from behind the arc and later gained their largest lead of the period at 15-10 for a five-point margin with 11:37 still to play.
The Southern Nazarene men responded with a 7-0 run, however, to retake the lead at 21-19 with 7:28 left till the half. In the following minutes, the lead continued to change possession with the Eagles claiming a one-point 34-33 lead before the buzzer when Eric Randall put back a White three-point shot.
The Crimson Storm headed the second period with a trey to take a two-point advantage over the Eagles and held the lead till 12:36 showed on the clock when OC's Kendre Talley connected on a three-pointer to put the Eagles up by one. Chad Endres quickly followed with another shot from behind the arc to put the Eagles up by four at 53-49.
Things continued to push back and forth as a close matchup continued to transpire into the last minutes of the game. With 5:23 left on the clock, the Crimson Storm tied things up with the Eagles at 66-66 and then took the lead for good with a basket moments later.
The SNU men utilized a late 8-3 run to gap OC by five and pushed the lead to six before the game ended leaving the Crimson Storm the victors with a 79-73 win over the Eagles.
Randall paced the Eagles for the evening with putting up 16 points and grabbing five rebounds. White made a large contribution as well adding 15 points to the Eagles' total.
Jeff Crocker and Endres put up nine and eight points, respectively, while Will Reinke and Ross Morrisett added another seven and six points, respectively. Reinke also grabbed six boards for the Eagles and made two blocks.
The loss leaves the Eagles to an 8-4 record overall and at 2-3 for conference play. The OC men will join the women at home for their next game against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. for the women with the men scheduled to follow at 8 p.m.
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