OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 16, 2014) – Up 13 points with 5:47 left, it looked like Oklahoma Christian finally had shaken pesky Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday night and would pull away.
Not so fast. The Aggies scored 14 straight points in the next 2:04 to go ahead, but a clutch 3-pointer by Willie Harper, followed by stellar free-throw shooting in the final 2½ minutes, proved to be enough to lift OC to an 85-77 win.
"We've lost games this year by having the lead, losing it and then continuing to play downhill after that," OC coach Dan Hays said. "We did a great job of showing resolve and coming back and making the plays we had to and to get the ball inside when we needed to."
Nick Tate scored 20 points to lead OC (6-8, 2-4 Heartland Conference). OC has won consecutive games for the first time since November, but Panhandle State (1-14, 1-5) – bidding for a second straight conference win after knocking off Rogers State – certainly didn't make it easy on the Eagles.
The Aggies entered the game leading the conference in made 3-pointers and poured in 15 (on 36 attempts) from behind the arc. Jeremy Newton went 6 of 10 from 3-point range and led all scorers with 27 points, while Jake Regier (4 of 11) and Zilijan Jones (4 of 10) also showed strong marksmanship from long range. Jones added 10 assists and six rebounds to go with his 12 points.
"They were guarded," Hays said. "It wasn't like we gave them those threes."
Newton had two 3-pointers – one of them leading to a rare four-point play – and Jones added another during Panhandle State's late run. Newton hit two free throws with 3:43 left to put the Aggies ahead 69-68.
John Moon hit 1 of 2 free throws moments later to pull the Eagles even, then Harper – who scored 15 points – hit the last of his four 3-pointers to put OC back ahead with 2:45 left. Jones answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game, but the Aggies didn't score again until only seconds remained, recording four straight empty possessions.
Tate (at the 2:08 mark) and Talley (with 1:47 left) both hit two free throws, making it 76-72. After the teams swapped missed 3-point attempts, Talley stole the ball from Jones, which led to free throws by Jordan VanDeKop with 36.3 seconds left that put OC up 78-72.
Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity and Harper hit 1 of 2 at the other end with 27.8 seconds left. Panhandle State's Kysahn Sands scored a basket with 20.5 seconds left, but Tate, then Talley, slammed the door, each making a pair of free throws in the final 18.3 seconds to extend OC's lead to 83-74.
Regier hit a 3-pointer, then Moon closed the game with a reverse, two-handed slam that brought the crowd at the Eagles' Nest to its feet.
Moon scored 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting and played strong baseline defense. Harper finished with 15 points while VanDeKop had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Talley, the Eagles' leading scorer, had only nine points but added nine assists, six rebounds and two steals.
"We had (four) guys in double figures and our leading scorer wasn't," Hays said. "That's really good. Kendre played fine – six rebounds, nine assists. It's just a good win. Hopefully we can build on it. We don't have much time to enjoy it. … We've got a little streak going. We've got to keep it going."
OC will host Newman (Kan.) on Saturday in another conference game.
