LUBBOCK, Texas (Feb. 8, 2014) – Those who have been following Oklahoma Christian's four-game Heartland Conference road trip have become familiar with the frustrating script – the Eagles fall behind by double digits before mounting a massive rally and falling just short.
It happened again Saturday afternoon at the Rip Griffin Center. OC trailed by 17 points early in the second half to Lubbock Christian (Texas), pulled within two points a little more than five minutes later but couldn't sustain the momentum and lost 78-61 to the Chaparrals.
LCU (13-6, 8-5 Heartland) won its fifth straight game, moved into fourth place in the league standings and completed a season sweep of OC (7-14, 3-10), which lost its sixth straight. The Eagles aren't necessarily playing bad, coach Dan Hays said. They're just missing shots – shooting 35.7 percent from the field against LCU.
"We actually played better today than the other three (games on the road trip)," Hays said. "Lubbock just hit a lot of deep, deep 3s. We did a good job covering and there's not much else you could do. I thought our defense was good.
"It's so easy to say we lost because we just didn't make enough shots, but that's what happened. We had two turnovers in the second half. We only gave up three offensive rebounds in the final 30-some minutes of the game. We just aren't making enough shots."
LCU led 43-27 at halftime and 46-29 with 18:09 left after a 3-pointer by Anthony Brancato. OC then went on a 17-2 run, during which Kendre Talley scored seven of his team-high 16 points. Willie Harper's jumper with 12:55 left pulled the Eagles within 48-46.
A.J. Luckey answered with a 3-pointer for the Chaparrals – the first of five straight 3-point baskets by LCU, three of them by Brancato, who went 7-of-13 from behind the arc and scored 23 points. After that flurry, the Chaparrals led 64-53 with 5:46 left and eventually built their lead to as many as 19 points in the game's final moments.
Luckey went 4-of-8 from 3-point range and scored 15 points for LCU, while Eli Baker had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
John Moon scored 12 points and Harper added 11 for the Eagles.
"We're just kind of snakebit," Hays said. "We're kind of unlucky. We're going to have to work our way out of it. There's probably not anybody who thinks we will work our way out of it except the 12 guys on the floor. It's not going to be easy. There's nothing easy left. It will be a real test of fortitude and discipline and determination to get to playing just a little bit better."
OC will open a three-game homestand – the final home games of the regular season – on Thursday against Rogers State.
