Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 15, 2017) – Just a quick glance at the postgame stat sheet was all that was needed to determine why Oklahoma Christian lost to Eastern New Mexico on Friday night in the Eagles' Nest.
OC made just 15 of 30 free throws – 50 percent – and Eastern New Mexico outscored the Eagles by 11 points at the line en route to an 86-77 nonconference win.
OC (2-7) did a lot of things right – committing only nine turnovers and shooting a healthy 42.1 percent from 3-point range – but the Eagles' free-throw troubles cost them dearly against Eastern New Mexico (4-7) in the first meeting between the two basketball programs.
Nursing a two-point lead with 12 minutes to go, the Eagles missed four straight free throws – including the front end of two one-and-one opportunities – in a 53-second span. The Greyhounds took advantage, regaining the lead at 55-54 on a 3-pointer by Devin Pullum with 10:19 left, and they never trailed again.
Eastern New Mexico pushed its lead to eight points with 5:18 left and the Eagles came no closer than five points the rest of the way. The Greyhounds eventually finished 26 of 35 from the free-throw line, including a 12-of-15 effort by Jamani Pierce, who led his team with 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Eagles battled foul trouble throughout, particularly on the front line, with center
Miroslav Jaksic and forward
Roderick Smith fouling out and forward
Abel Rodriguez and center
Will Lienhard finishing with four fouls each.
Elijah Strickland led OC with 22 points, moving the senior guard up two spots to No. 37 on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,057 points. He's now tied with Brandon Kephart (2001-2003) on that list. Freshman guard
Charles Shaw was the only other OC player to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points and five assists.
Zach Parker added 13 points for the Greyhounds, while Lamarquis Thompson had 10 points and seven rebounds.
OC will play in a classic in St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday, facing Missouri-St. Louis in the opener before playing host Maryville (Mo.) on the second day.
