Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 15, 2015) – When Oklahoma Christian has found success this basketball season, it's been when the Eagles can avoid long scoring droughts. Unfortunately on Thursday night against Newman (Kan.), that didn't happen.
As OC went scoreless for more than 5½ minutes spanning the halves, Newman scored 17 straight points and never looked back while posting a 72-62 win at the Eagles' Nest.
Reggie Baker scored 25 points and went 7-of-16 from 3-point range for Newman (7-6, 3-4 Heartland Conference), consistently hitting from behind the arc every time it seemed OC (3-10, 1-6) might rally in the second half.
OC coach
Dan Hays said he hoped his squad had learned the formula to success after a 20-point rout of then-league-leading Lubbock Christian (Texas) last Saturday, but instead he thought the Eagles regressed a bit.
"I just felt like we were a little out of sync tonight," Hays said. "I just thought we weren't mentally into things. I don't know why. I told them how we react to (the win over) Lubbock, we can either feel like we're there, or we can forget it and keep grinding and keep digging, and I think our bunch might have felt a little sense of security that we really don't have.
"We played great against Lubbock, but you've got to forget that and we just weren't quite as sharp as we needed to be."
Seven-foot center
John Moon was his usual dominant self for OC, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds, but the Eagles certainly missed his tag-team partner, 6-foot-8
Eric Randall, who missed a second straight game due to injury.
OC wasn't able to generate a consistent outside shooting threat, finishing 6-of-20 from 3-point range.
Elijah Strickland, who scored 13 points got hot briefly in the second half and hit three 3-pointers in a 4½- minute span, but the Eagles weren't quite able to make a game of it after that.
The game got away from the Eagles right before halftime. A three-point play by
Jordan Box (11 points) with 2:36 left tied the game at 28-28, but those were OC's final points of the half. The Jets scored the next seven points to take a 35-28 lead into the locker room, and 3-pointers by Ryan McCarthy and Baker fueled a 10-0 run to start the second half.
Down 17, Strickland's 3-pointers keyed a 13-5 run by OC and his final 3-pointer pulled the Eagles within 50-41 with 12:16 left. Soon enough, Baker hit a 3-pointer from the left corner – his favorite spot – and extended Newman's lead back to double digits.
A tip-in by Moon cut OC's deficit to 58-48 with 8 minutes left, then Baker hit another corner 3-pointer, then another, and just 53 seconds later, the Eagles were staring at a 16-point deficit from which they never recovered.
Cortrael Colbert added 16 points and six assists for Newman while James Pegues had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
OC will return to action on Saturday when the Eagles host Dallas Baptist (Texas) in a 2 p.m. conference game. The Patriots are 9-5 overall and 3-3 in league play after suffering an overtime defeat to league leader St. Edward's (Texas) at home on Monday.
"We're going to keep working at it," Hays said. "A lot of it today was between our ears, I thought. I'm not using the excuse 'we're young,' but there were times we had four freshmen on the floor at one time. That is reality, but we'll just keep plugging away."
