Box Score WICHITA, Kan. (Jan. 14, 2016) – The Oklahoma Christian Eagles left Fugate Gymnasium on Thursday night probably thinking about what might have been.

A second-half rally was short-circuited when officials called four late fouls – at least a couple of them dubious – on OC star John Moon in the span of just 3:06, fouling him out, and Newman (Kan.) was able to hang on for a 72-63 win over the Eagles.

Moon put together another outstanding basketball game, posting his fifth double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds, but the Eagles shot just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range and didn't have their top player on the floor when it mattered.

"I thought we played very well," OC coach Dan Hays said. "I thought we played very hard. But the chance we had late was totally nullified when they called (the fouls on Moon). … When you lose the best player in the league, it makes it kind of tough. You really can't replace him."

Newman (11-4, 4-3 Heartland Conference) led 53-37 with 10:32 left, but OC (4-11, 1-6) scored the next 10 points and pulled within 53-48 on a 3-pointer by Chiza Ntirata with 5:38 left.

With 5:20 left, Newman's James Pegues and Moon were battling underneath the Newman basket. Officials initially called a personal foul on Moon and a technical foul on Pegues, but then conferred amongst themselves and added a technical foul on Moon, taking him from one to three fouls.

A 17-foot jumper by OC's Deric Shelton with 4:41 left cut Newman's lead to 55-52. Newman's Jarvis Williams and Jalen Love each hit a 3-pointer to extend the Jets' margin to 61-54, then Moon was called for a foul while appearing to cleanly block a shot by Gavin Thurman. Thurman, who led the Jets with 19 points and 10 rebounds, made both free throws with 2:53 left.

Moon answered with a three-point play, but picked up his fifth foul at the other end with 2:14 left. That seemed to take the life out of the Eagles and the closest they came after that was six points.

OC outrebounded the Jets 45-36 and stayed in the game even though Newman committed only five turnovers and went 10-of-29 from 3-point range, compared to 3-of-18 for the Eagles.
 
"I was very proud of our mental toughness," Hays said. "Newman is a good team, an upper-echelon team in the Heartland Conference. That's what we're striving to be. We made some strides. We're just going to keep working."

Neither team shot particularly well early, and OC led the Jets until the 8:10 mark of the first half, when Pegues scored to put Newman up 12-11. Moon tied the game at 23-23 with a dunk with 2:36 left in the first half, but the Jets led 27-25 at halftime.

Elijah Strickland added 12 points for OC. Zach Norris and Ntirata had eight rebounds each for the Eagles. Pegues and Williams had 12 points each for Newman, while Daniel Nwosu had 11.

OC will complete a five-game road swing on Saturday when the Eagles visit Dallas Baptist (Texas).