Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 5, 2017) – In a tight basketball game, often times it takes just one momentum swing to make the difference, which Oklahoma Christian was reminded of the hard way against Texas A&M International on Thursday night.
OC went 5½ minutes without a basket midway through the second half, turning a five-point advantage into a nine-point deficit, and TAMIU held on from there for a 75-70 win in the Eagles' Nest.
OC (6-6, 1-3 Heartland Conference) lost despite a season-high 28 points (on 7-of-13 shooting) from reigning Heartland player of the week
Keilan Horton. The senior from Inglewood, Calif., has scored 20 or more points in six straight games and now leads the league in scoring at 17.5 points per game.
The Eagles led at halftime and were up 52-47 after
John Moon's 3-point play with 10:56 left, but didn't record another basket until the 5:24 mark. In the interim, league-leading TAMIU (10-5, 4-1) reeled off a 15-1 run and the Dustdevils led 62-53 after a layup by Arthur Santanna with 6:37 left.
OC came no closer than five points the rest of the way.
"Give them credit," OC coach
Cory Cole said of the Dustdevils. "They did a good job of limiting the sets we were running and our guys kind of got scrambled for that four-to-five-minute stretch. I've got to be better and our staff has got to be better in making sure we get our guys in winning situations."
Led by former OC player Jordan VanDeKop's 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting, the Dustdevils shot a sizzling 58.8 percent from the field, including 76 percent (19 of 25) after halftime. OC shot a respectable 45.5 percent from the field but couldn't keep up with TAMIU making so many shots.
"We're definitely showing improvement against the top competition in our conference," Cole said. "…It's good for us to get a lot of film and go back and watch and get better and see if we can just improve as we get into Saturday."
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Horton gave OC its largest lead at 26-19 with 4:13 left in the first half and
Zach Norris' put-back in the final minute of the half put the Eagles up 34-31.
A 9-3 run, keyed by seven points by Moon, gave the Eagles the 52-47 advantage before TAMIU took control. The Dustdevils built their lead to 71-59 with 2:56 left on a short hook shot by Bunja Yaboe, who scored 12 points.
Dorian Lopez's 3-pointer with 31.9 seconds left pulled OC within 75-70 and the Dustdevils missed the front end of two one-and-one free-throw opportunities in the final 23.2 seconds, but the Eagles couldn't take advantage, as
Jordan Box and Horton each missed a 3-point attempt.
Elijah Strickland added 18 points for the Eagles while Moon had 11 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot, extending his streak with at least one block to 65 straight games.
Santanna scored 15 points for TAMIU while Kenny Hatch had 11.
OC will return to action Saturday, hosting St. Mary's (Texas) at 3 p.m.
Cory Cole discusses the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1dspasoOnw&feature=youtu.be
