Box Score AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 4, 2017) – Oklahoma Christian's basketball game at St. Edward's (Texas) on Saturday afternoon was effectively over just minutes after it started, courtesy of a huge early wave by the host Hilltoppers.
St. Edward's began on a 22-2 run and never had its lead shrink below 16 points the rest of the way while beating the Eagles 100-75 at the Recreation and Convocation Center.
OC (8-12, 3-9 Heartland Conference) committed 22 turnovers and missed a chance to improve its shot at one of the final berths in the eight-team league tournament. The Eagles remained 1½ games back of Newman (Kan.) and St. Mary's (Texas), who are tied for seventh at 5-8. OC will visit St. Mary's next Thursday night before a trip Saturday afternoon to Texas A&M International.
"Give St. Edward's credit," OC coach
Cory Cole said. "They were ready to play from the tip and we weren't. Our team has got to bounce back quickly and be ready. These next few road games are huge for our program."
The Eagles had four players score in double figures, led by senior center
John Moon, who had 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. Moon moved out of a tie with Kenneth Orange (1979-83) into sole possession of eighth place on OC's career scoring list with 1,769 points.
The four blocks gave Moon 220 for his career, tying him with Will Reinke (2010-13) for second place on the Eagles' career list in that category. Moon, who already holds the Heartland career record for blocks, needs 10 more blocks to break the school mark of 229, set by Micah Miles from 2004-07.
After the initial burst by St. Edward's (16-9, 8-4), the Hilltoppers didn't let up much, building their lead to as many as 28 points before settling for a 56-35 halftime lead.
The closest the Eagles came in the second half was at 86-70, on a layup by
Marcus Mathieu with 4:21 left. Guard
Jaquan Dupree scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench for OC, while
Keilan Horton had 13 points and
Dorian Lopez had 10.
John Gramlich and Ethan Gilbert both went 7-of-11 from the field for St. Edward's, with Gramlich scoring 20 points and Gilbert 19. Ramir Burton scored 17 for the Hilltoppers, who shot 57.1 percent from the field.
