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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Feb. 28, 2009) – Oklahoma Christian University beat crosstown rival Oklahoma City University 74-70 to finish the regular season at 15-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference and 22-8 overall on Saturday night.
The win (OC's sixth straight), combined with John Brown's (Ark.) loss at Oklahoma Baptist, gives Oklahoma Christian the No. 3 seed in next week's SAC Tournament at Lubbock Christian University's (Texas) Rip Griffin Center.
The Eagles will receive a first-round bye and play in the quarterfinals against either Southern Nazarene (Okla.) or Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Thursday (game time TBA).
Saturday's game marked the final home game for three Eagle seniors. Lionel Saban, Kyle Tefft and Marlon Word have been major assets to the program during their OC careers. Saban is a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Gros-Horne, Martinique. Tefft hails from Enid, Okla., and is a biology major, while Houston, Texas, native Word will earn a degree in business management.
Jason Taylor paced Oklahoma Christian with 27 points to bring his final regular-season average to 23.6 points per game. That number gives Taylor his second-straight SAC scoring crown after leading the league with 19.1 points per game last season.
OC and OCU both had the hot hand from three-point range on Saturday. OC hit 11-of-22 from behind the arc, and OCU buried 13-of-26 from deep. OCU's Jamel White was the game's high-point scorer with 33 points on 8-of-15 three-point accuracy.
The first half was a back-and-forth struggle that saw OCU eventual pull out a 38-32 halftime edge. The Stars made 7-of-11 three pointers in the first half, and they finished the period with a 7-2 spurt to get on the high side.
The Eagles went on top 32-31 (3:52) when Jeff Crocker banked in a runner at the elbow, but OC failed to score again in the half. Taylor had 14 first-half points, while White went for 19 points for the Stars.
It took OC nearly eight minutes, but the Eagles finally regained the lead at the 12:03 mark of the second half when David Jackson canned a triple. White answered with a trey (11:43) for OCU on the other end, but Crocker rained an OC long ball (11:26) seconds later to complete a wild sequence that left the Eagles ahead 53-52.
OC built a five-point lead by the 8:21 point when Tefft sunk a top-of-the-key three to make it 50-55. It was 62-56 Eagles by the 7:20 mark when Crocker found Taylor on a pick-and-roll for a slam. But White's unconscious night from downtown continued, and the junior cut OC's lead in half (62-59) with his eighth trey at the 7:02 point.
The Eagles never gave up the lead though, and led 67-61 with 3:38 remaining after Taylor hit two foul shots. Then OCU scored five straight to pull within one, capped by Richard Jackson's three pointer at the 2:08 mark that made it 67-66 OC.
But on perhaps the game's biggest possession, OC worked the shot clock down, and Taylor passed out of the post to Crocker who swished from behind the arc to put the Eagles up four (70-66) with 1:40 to play.
OCU pulled within two (70-68) with a Ricardo Lovelace layup at the 1:13 mark, and Jackson got the Stars within one (71-70) with two foul shots with 36 seconds showing. But Tefft stepped up in his final home game, and hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 19 seconds to seal it for the Eagles.
Three Eagles joined Taylor in double figures, led by Jackson's 17-point night. The Tulsa, Okla., junior went 5-of-8 from three-point range. Crocker and Tefft each had 12 points, with Crocker passing out seven assists, and Tefft adding to his school-record single-season steals count of 93 with one takeaway on Saturday.
The victory was OC's first over OCU since an 88-51 win in the 2005-06 season. OCU fell to 15-15 and 8-13 in the SAC with the loss.
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