Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 18, 2015) – Oklahoma Christian tried its best to milk a double-digit lead during the final seven minutes of regulation on Tuesday night against Central Oklahoma, but couldn't quite hang on.
The figurative OC offensive engine that started sputtering in the final minutes of regulation just about ran dry in two overtime periods, allowing UCO to escape the Eagles' Nest with a 73-67 win in the cross-Edmond rivalry game.
Primarily using five players, OC (0-3) managed only nine points in the 10 extra minutes, with its offense often amounting to running the shot clock down, then hoisting up a 3-point attempt. UCO (3-0) wasn't much more effective – credit the Eagles' stalwart defense for that – but the Bronchos made a couple of key plays late in the second overtime that proved to be the difference.
Four OC players played 47 or more minutes – guard
Zach Norris (47), center
John Moon (48), forward
Jordan Rutherford (49) and guard
Elijah Strickland (50). Coach
Dan Hays said he knew they became fatigued as the game wore on.
"I'll take responsibility for that," Hays said. "I shortened the bench, because we thought we had things going, plus you've got a lot of media timeouts. I thought we could rest people, but we did get tired. Elijah, John, they played a tremendous number of minutes. Same way with Rutherford and Zach.
"I'm proud of our guys. I thought our defense was superlative almost the whole night. We're just bogging down on offense. Thanks goodness we've got a week and a couple of days to make some changes and get our offense going."
The Eagles led most of the way against UCO. OC seized control with a 12-0 run late in the first half, capped by a pair of free throws by Rutherford that made it 33-21 at the 3:04 mark. The Eagles had much success going inside to the 7-foot Moon, who finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
OC led 37-29 at halftime and fended off several attempts by the Bronchos to rally. When Norris scored with 6:54 left, the Eagles were up 55-44 and looked like winners. They still led 58-52 with 3:41 left after
Daniel Eibel went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, but that proved to be their final point in regulation.
With UCO trailing 58-57, the Bronchos' Jacob Strassle missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 1:47 left and Trai Jordan missed two free throws 25 seconds later, but OC couldn't convert on the other end. Jordan London went to the line with 32.7 seconds left and hit 1-of-2 to pull the Bronchos even.
OC held for the final shot, but Strickland's long 3-point attempt wasn't close and gave UCO time to set up for its own final shot, a 3-point attempt that Cornell Neal missed.
The lineup of Strickland, Moon, Rutherford, Norris and freshman
Geoffery Hightower went nearly all the way in extra time for the Eagles. In the first overtime, a put-back by Moon tied the game at 64-64 with 1:04 left. Rutherford missed a 3-point attempt with 19.3 seconds left, but the Eagles reached a second overtime when Neal missed another 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
OC managed only three points in the second overtime, with Strickland hitting 1-of-2 free throws at the 3:49 mark and Rutherford scoring on a put-back with 2:05 left, cutting UCO's lead to 68-67. Jordan hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:11 left, Neal converted a layup over Moon with 25.3 seconds left and Garen Wright sealed the win for UCO with two free throws with 7.3 seconds left.
It was OC's first multiple-overtime game since Jan. 12, 2013, when the Eagles won in double overtime at St. Edward's (Texas).
Rutherford and Strickland each scored 16 points for OC, which shot 35.8 percent (24 of 67) from the field but only 20 percent (5 of 25) from 3-point range. Neal scored 15 and added six assists to lead the Bronchos, with Kendahl Amerson adding 14 points. Wright had 10 rebounds to go with seven points.
The Eagles won't play again until Nov. 27, when they face another big rival, Southern Nazarene, at UCO's Hamilton Field House in Edmond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-1EVzGfrQ&feature=youtu.be
