Women's box score
Men's box score
by Ryan Piersol, Edmond Sun
The Oklahoma Christian University men's basketball team was a second away from getting back in the hunt for the Sooner Athletic Conference crown.
Well, 1.8 seconds to be exact.
Attempting to secure a monster win on the road, the Eagles had No. 17 Oklahoma City all but put away, before the Stars mounted a stunning comeback in regulation, then pulled away for an 83-72 overtime victory.
The loss drops OC to 16-6 overall and 6-5 in the conference, while OCU remains atop the SAC standings with a 9-1 league mark.
"It certainly hurts," OC head coach Dan Hays said. "We had a chance to get right back in the thick of things tonight."
The Eagles led, 67-65, with just 11.7 seconds left and had clutch senior Brady Page at the line. But Page missed the front end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for the Stars to tie the game up. After a pass was batted out of bounds, just 1.8 seconds remained on the clock for OCU to make something happen, and the Stars used a screen for an easy layup to bring on an extra period.
In overtime, it was never close. OCU scored 12 of the first 14 points of the extra session and was celebrating with still two minutes left.
"We had our chances. You always think back to the last 10 seconds, but the game went 45 minutes," Hays said. "We defended them for about three different times, then they get that inbounds play. I'm not sure what happened, we either missed a switch or turned our backs. We obviously didn't defend it right."
Page had 21 points to lead the Eagles, while Keith Harris was right behind him with 20 and Dillon Ripley added 14.
The Stars were only able to keep pace with OC down the stretch due to rebounding. OCU outrebounded the Eagles 41-24, getting 18 offensive boards, 14 of which came in the second half.
Stars' post player Lorenzo Gordon was a beast, not only on the glass, but everywhere. The 6-7 senior finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds, mainly sparking the Stars early and late.
"We got a little out of what we wanted to do early in the game (with Gordon)," Hays said. "He's a big-time player and he should get credit. He was the difference in the ball game."
OC led 32-29 at halftime, but the Stars took control with a 20-6 run to start the second and went ahead 49-38 with 13:37 to play. OCU still held a 58-53 lead at the 7:18 mark, when the Eagles rattled off eight straight points, getting steals and dunks both from Ripley and Harris, to nab a 63-62 lead with 3:15 to go.
Ryan Godwin was 5-of-6 from three-point range for the Stars to finish with 23 points, while Dawud Drew scored 11 and Rory Green 10.
"They're good," Hays said. "Nobody's played them like this since they've had their CBA lineup going. I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm not disappointed in how we played."
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Oklahoma City 78, Oklahoma Christian 58 (women)
Just when it seemed as if an upset might be in the works, Oklahoma City's Mariam Sy put on her own highlight show.
The 6-4 center scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to turn a tie game at halftime into an rather comfortable OCU victory. Sy was 8-of-14 from the field and also had eight rebounds.
The Lady Eagles trailed, 28-17, late in the first half. But with Sy on the bench with two fouls, OC rattled off a 13-2 run to end the half and knot the score at 30-all.
The Lady Eagles then built a 37-32 lead at the 17:30 mark of the second half after a Rachel Martin jumper, but OCU responded with a 17-4 run to go ahead 49-41 with 11:48 left and never trailed again. Sy had eight points during the game-changing spurt.
The win keeps OCU atop the conference standings with a perfect 10-0 mark, while OC falls to 9-2 in the league and 16-6 overall.
Martin had 18 points to lead the Lady Eagles, while Lauren Decker scored 17 and Tasha Turney 13.
