Box Score LUBBOCK, Texas (Jan. 9, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian hung around and hung around and hung around all afternoon against Lubbock Christian (Texas), but that wasn't quite enough against one of the Heartland Conference's better basketball teams.
Marcos Schuster and Tyler Rogers hit crucial baskets in the final 3½ minutes to hold off an OC rally and lift the Chaparrals to a 65-58 win at the Rip Griffin Center.
John Moon posted his fourth double-double of the season for OC (4-9, 1-4 Heartland), finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots, but was routinely harassed by double- and triple-teams en route to a 5-of-15 shooting performance.
Elijah Strickland scored 15 points for the Eagles.
Lubbock Christian (10-4, 4-2) had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by Schuster and Marcus Arrington, who had 14 points each. A.J. Luckey had 13 points and Isaac Cardona added 10 for the Chaparrals.
Luckey scored eight of his points in the first five minutes, staking Lubbock Christian to an early 8-2 lead. The Eagles missed their first six shots before Strickland's basket at the 14:43 mark, but OC quickly heated up and took its first lead at 11-10 on a 3-pointer by Strickland with 11:11 left in the half.
The Eagles' lead peaked at 17-13 on a hook shot by Moon at the 8:33 mark, but Lubbock Christian used a 15-3 run to go up 33-22 on a basket by Luckey with 1:25 left in the half. OC trailed 33-25 at halftime.
The Eagles pulled within 40-38 after a 3-pointer by
Stephen Amalong (who scored a career-high nine points in a career-high 27 minutes) with 14:28 left, but they didn't score again for more than 3½ minutes. In the interim, the Chaparrals reeled off nine straight points, with Cardona's 3-pointer putting them up 49-38 with 11:40 left.
OC trailed only 59-53 after a three-point play by
Zach Norris with 3:53 left, but the Eagles misfired on their next two possessions, allowing Schuster, then Rogers, to score as Lubbock Christian rebuilt its lead.
A put-back by Norris with 32 seconds left got OC within 63-58, but Arrington hit two free throws with 30.6 seconds left to seal the win for Lubbock Christian.
OC went 14-of-14 from the free-throw line, although it wasn't quite a school record in that category. The Eagles were 20-of-20 from the line against St. Gregory's on Jan. 17, 2002.
The Eagles will play their third straight road game Monday night at Texas-Permian Basin.
