OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 25, 2014) – For the second straight game, Oklahoma Christian faced one of the Heartland Conference's best teams while the Eagles struggled with their shooting. The result was a second straight loss.
OC shot 43.6 percent from the field but just 21.4 percent from 3-point range while losing 74-62 on Saturday afternoon to St. Mary's (Texas) in the Eagles' Nest.
St. Mary's (13-4, 6-3 Heartland Conference) remained in the thick of the league race, a half-game behind third-place Rogers State and a game behind second-place Arkansas-Fort Smith. The Rattlers shot a solid 51.9 percent the field and led OC (7-10, 3-6) most of the way, trailing only for one minute early in the game.
The Eagles shot 37.7 percent from the field on Thursday in a loss to league-leading Texas A&M International. OC's three primary inside players – John Moon, Jordan VanDeKop and Josh Faurot – finished a combined 10 of 13 from the field against St. Mary's but the Eagles' outside shots weren't falling.
"These are outstanding teams and we just did not make enough perimeter shots," OC coach Dan Hays said. "It's as simple as that. Our post guys played well. We got the ball inside, some – we probably would have liked to get it in a little bit more – but I'm never going to tell my players not to shoot open jump shots. We ran set plays. We got into things but we just missed shots.
"I liked our effort. Defensively, we were outstanding, I thought, except for one stretch in the second half. We've just got to play a little better and hopefully we will."
OC and the Rattlers were tied at 21-21 after Willie Harper made two free throws for the Eagles with 5:06 left in the first half, but St. Mary's went on a 14-2 run spanning the halves and went ahead 35-23 with 18:45 left after a 3-pointer by Marvin Binney, who scored 15 points.
Harper had two baskets and Nick Tate hit a 3-pointer in a brief OC flurry that pulled the Eagles within 35-30, but St. Mary's answered with a 9-0 run.
The Eagles had one final push, a 10-2 spurt that pulled them within 46-40 on a layup by Kendre Talley with 11:10 left. Marvin Whitt's 3-pointer and a 2-pointer by J.J. Bolton restored the Rattlers' lead to double digits and OC came no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Talley led OC in points (15), assists (five) and steals (three). VanDeKop had 12 points, while Tate had 10 points and eight rebounds and Moon scored 10 points, making all five of his shots.
Whitt led the Rattlers with 19 points and Justin Alexander added 18 points.
Hays said the Eagles and their fans shouldn't worry too much about the losses to TAMIU and St. Mary's, which ended OC's three-game winning streak.
"I don't think it was a lost week," he said. "Everybody will look at it like it was, but it was not lost. We actually were better this week than we were the week before. We just didn't shoot it as well."
