Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 2, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian coach
Dan Hays thought his lineup needed a shakeup, so he decided to give freshman guard
Daniel Eibel and sophomore forward
Tripp Fuller their first starts of the season on Saturday afternoon against St. Mary's (Texas).
The Eagles responded with one of their best performances of the season, staying close all the way before pulling away in the final minutes for a key 70-63 win over St. Mary's – their first over the Rattlers since the 2012-13 season, OC's first in the Heartland Conference.
With five straight road games looming for OC (4-7, 1-2 Heartland), Hays knew Saturday's matchup against St. Mary's (5-7, 1-3) was critical for a team looking to build some confidence.
"We just needed to get a little new blood in there and see if we could get a little more emotion, a little more effort," Hays said. "It seemed to work. Then throw in the good job that
Cameron Peters and
Geoffery Hightower did. Those four guys, I thought, were key to us.
"St. Mary's is still a quality program, pretty much the name brand of the Heartland Conference in men's basketball, so it's a good win for us."
The newcomers to the starting lineup did their job – Eibel scored seven points and added three assists, while Fuller added five points and four rebounds, two of which came at critical junctures in the second half to key an OC run.
In the deciding moments, it was two of OC's big men who made decisive plays.
St. Mary's pulled within 60-58 on a 3-pointer by Kriston Minor with 5:39 left. The score didn't change for more than two minutes before OC forward
Chiza Ntirata lobbed to center
John Moon for a dunk with 3:22 left.
On OC's next possession, Ntirata (who scored 10 points) buried a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 65-58. Moon – who had 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots – hit two free throws with 1:34 left to make it 67-58.
The Rattlers came no closer than five points the rest of the way as the Eagles, who had only 12 turnovers, hit just enough free throws in the final 34.7 seconds (3 of 6) to keep St. Mary's at bay.
"We're better than we've played," Hays said. "We really are. The number one thing is we have to learn to not turn the ball over. We had 12 turnovers for the game and our goal has always been 12 or less. That was encouraging."
The Rattlers had their biggest lead early on, going up 16-7 on a 3-pointer with 12:45 left in the first half by Isaiah Parros, who led St. Mary's with 19 points and nine rebounds. OC answered with three straight 3-pointers, by Eibel, Hightower and
Jordan Rutherford, to take an 18-16 lead at the 10:37 mark.
St. Mary's again went up by seven at 29-22 on a 3-pointer by Bryce Smith (11 points), but the Eagles were within 36-34 by halftime. OC opened the second half on an 8-2 spurt and led 42-38 with 17:21 left. Again, St. Mary's answered and led 54-50 with 10:24 left after a basket by Parros.
Fuller was fouled after grabbing a rebound and made both free throws to start an 8-0 run by the Eagles, who took the lead for good at 57-54 on a 3-pointer with 7:48 left by
Elijah Strickland, who scored 17 points.
Minor added 10 points and five assists for the Rattlers.
What Hays calls OC's "monster" road stretch will include five games in a 10-day span, starting next Thursday at Oklahoma Panhandle State. OC will visit Lubbock Christian (Texas) next Saturday, Texas-Permian Basin on Jan. 11, Newman (Kan.) on Jan. 14 and Dallas Baptist (Texas) on Jan. 16. The Eagles won't play again at home until Jan. 21 against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjMrg-R2lmg&feature=youtu.be
