OC center Will Reinke posted his 10th double-double of the season and hit the game-clinching free throws as the Eagles beat USAO 58-54 on Thursday.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 16, 2012) – Will Reinke had 21 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and hit the game-clinching free throws with 4.9 seconds left, lifting Oklahoma Christian past USAO 58-54 on Thursday night on Dan Hays Court in the Eagles' Nest.
In the last regular-season meeting of the longtime rivals as conference foes for the foreseeable future, heads-up plays by Reinke and Devan White made the difference down the stretch for OC (16-10, 10-9 Sooner Athletic Conference).
OC had led 55-49 after Reinke's basket with 2:30 left, but Norris Rumph's 3-point play brought USAO (13-12, 9-10) within 55-52 with 1:37 left, and after White missed a pair of free throws, Benjamin Berry scored for the Drovers to cut their deficit to one. At the other end, USAO's Kyle Hunt blocked a shot by Reinke, giving the Drovers the ball with 38.6 seconds left.
USAO held the ball until under 10 seconds remained, when Trell Porter drove toward the basket and right into White. Porter was called for a charging foul with 7.2 seconds left, giving the ball back to OC.
"What was good about it is (White) had just missed two free throws … then he saved the game," OC coach Dan Hays said. "It was a great job by Devan, not shaking his head and pouting, but making the defensive play we needed to make. It was a 50-50 call, but I thought he was there (to take the charge)."
USAO immediately fouled OC's Eric Randall, who made 1-of-2 free throws with 6 seconds left, but Reinke rebounded the miss and was fouled with 4.9 seconds left. He made both shots to seal the win, capping a night on which the Eagles shot just 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the free-throw line.
The win put the Eagles into a tie for fifth with Lubbock Christian (Texas) in the SAC standings with three games remaining, all on the road – against Southern Nazarene on Saturday, against Lubbock Christian next Thursday and against Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Feb. 25. The top eight teams in the conference standings qualify for the SAC tournament. Oklahoma City University and USAO are tied for seventh at 9-10 and Mid-America Christian and Northwestern Oklahoma State are tied for ninth at 8-11.
"I just don't remember it being this much of a grind every night," Hays said. "When you get to this point of the season, it's every bit as much a mental grind as it is a physical grind. We've just got to be tougher mentally than (our opponents) are."
Much like the earlier meeting this season in Chickasha, the game between the Eagles and USAO was tight throughout, as Reinke battled with the SAC's other top center, USAO's Kyle Hunt. Hunt, who had 34 points and 19 rebounds in an 81-79 overtime win over OC on Jan. 7, managed only 12 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday.
"It was, what do they call them – a slobberknocker?" Hays said. "That's what it was. We're just glad that we did win it. We're just going to keep grinding."
Neither team led by more than eight points. The Drovers took their biggest lead at 17-9 at the 8:56 mark of the first half and led 29-24 at halftime. OC opened the second half on an 8-2 run and took the lead at 32-31 on two free throws by Derek Johnson with 17:11 left.
The lead swapped hands eight times after that. OC took the lead for good at 46-44 on a 3-pointer by Brandon Troutman with 8:07 left and the Eagles' largest lead was seven points at 53-46 with 4:47 left.
Kendre Talley was the only other OC player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points. The team's two seniors, Ross Morrisett and Wil Scofield, started on Senior Night but didn't score.
Rumph led USAO with 14 and Phillip Harris had 13 for the Drovers, who shot 37.7 percent from the field (20 of 53), compared to 36.2 percent (21 of 58) for OC. The Eagles committed only eight turnovers, while USAO had 17.
