Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 4, 2016) – In a game in which points proved hard to come by, Oklahoma Christian struggled to produce them for long stretches, and that eventually proved to be the Eagles' undoing on Thursday night against Lubbock Christian (Texas).
A scoreless stretch of more than 3½ minutes late in the game allowed Lubbock Christian to rally from a four-point deficit and the Chaparrals went 13-of-13 from the free-throw line in the final 3:34 to hang on for a 64-59 win in the Eagles' Nest.
"They are a good team. That's why they're third in the league," OC coach
Dan Hays said of Lubbock Christian. "But to be honest, we're playing every bit as good as they are. We played very low-turnover tonight (with only eight). We got almost a shot per possession every time we had the ball. Defensively we were very good.
"But if we're going to be successful, John (Moon) needs to get to the free-throw line a little bit more."
Moon, the Eagles' standout 7-foot junior center, scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots, but only attempted four free throws despite touching the ball on most possessions and constantly battling double- and triple-team defensive schemes.
"It's really hard for me to believe that when he plays 40 minutes, with as many touches as he had, that he couldn't get to the free-throw line a little bit more than that," Hays said. "That's the bottom line."
For a time, it looked like OC (5-16, 2-11 Heartland Conference) would score a second straight win over a league power, after the Eagles stunned then-Heartland leader Texas A&M International on the road on Saturday.
OC led Lubbock Christian (15-6, 9-4) for nearly 24 minutes in a game in which there were 15 lead changes and neither team led by more than eight points. But the Eagles missed chances to extend their lead at different points, which ended up being costly.
OC endured scoreless stretches of 4:02 and 3:28 in the first half, the latter at the end of the half after the Eagles had built a 26-19 lead. Lubbock Christian responded with an 8-0 run to take a 27-26 lead into intermission.
The Eagles led 31-27 after
Daniel Eibel's 3-pointer with 18:54 left, but didn't score again until a 3-pointer by
Elijah Strickland tied the game at 34-34 with 13:31 left. OC was up 45-41 after Geoffrey Hightower's put-back basket with 6:05 left before another drought.
Lubbock Christian scored eight straight points to seize control before
Zach Norris hit two free throws to pull OC within 49-47 with 2:18 left. Needing a defensive stop, OC instead surrendered a three-point play to the Chaparrals' A.J. Luckey, who poured in 31 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Lubbock Christian was up 54-48 with one minute left.
The Eagles tried to play the foul game, but the Chaparrals didn't miss and OC wasn't able to cut much into the deficit by game's end.
Strickland led OC with 14 points and six assists. Lubbock Christian's only other player besides Luckey to reach double figures was Marcus Arrington, who had 10 points.
OC remained two games behind St. Mary's (Texas) in the race for the potential final spot in the Heartland postseason tournament. Both teams have seven games remaining. The Eagles will host Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday at 3 p.m.
