Box Score SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 9, 2017) – Success in close games often rises and falls on small things, and so it was for Oklahoma Christian on Thursday night at St. Mary's (Texas).
Needing a win to make a move up in the Heartland Conference men's basketball standings, the Eagles put forth a valiant effort full of clutch plays, but fell agonizingly short as St. Mary's hung on for a 92-88 overtime win at Bill Greehey Arena.
The top eight teams in the final Heartland standings will qualify for the league's postseason tournament. St. Mary's (8-16, 5-9 Heartland) solidified its hold on seventh place and completed a regular-season sweep of OC (9-12, 3-10). The Eagles trail eighth-place Newman (Kan.) by two games with five left to play.
Marcus Mathieu led the Eagles with 23 points and hit a layup with :04 left in regulation that forced overtime. He later gave OC an 80-79 lead by making the first of two free throws with 3:27 left in OT, but missed the second.
At the other end, two offensive rebounds by the Rattlers extended a possession and they took advantage as Robbie Benavides hit a 3-pointer at the 2:40 mark to put St. Mary's back ahead 82-80. OC's
Keilan Horton missed a jumper and that eventually led to a trip to the free-throw line for Benavides, who went 1-of-2 to push the Rattlers' lead to three points.
OC never recovered, but the Eagles gave themselves a chance. Down 89-83 with 32 seconds left, Horton scored, and after Will Ferguson went 1-of-2 from the line, Horton hit a 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left to pull OC within 90-88. But Ferguson made both free throws after being fouled with 9.2 seconds left and the Eagles missed a pair of shots in the final moments.
Horton finished with 19 points for the Eagles, while senior center
John Moon managed 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots despite battling foul trouble much of the game. Moon finished with four fouls while his primary backup,
Ivor Baric, fouled out while battling the Rattlers' post player, Yanni Wetzell, who had 22 points (including a 12-of-13 outing at the free-throw line) and 10 rebounds.
"I'm proud of our effort and persistence," OC coach
Cory Cole said. "They are a well-coached team and we competed all night. Our guards – Marcus and (
Elijah Strickland) and Keilan – were sparks all night. John battled and played tough on both ends even though he was plagued by foul trouble."
St. Mary's led the game for almost 35 minutes but never could break away from the Eagles. A dunk by Moon at the first-half buzzer cut the Rattlers' lead to 41-39. OC twice pulled even with St. Mary's early in the second half, the second time at 45-45 with 16:35 left on a layup by Strickland. The Rattlers scored seven straight points but OC answered with five of its own.
A 3-pointer by Nikau McCullough with 10:51 left pushed the Rattlers' lead to 62-52, but OC answered with a 12-2 run and tied the game on a layup by
Jordan Box with 7:31 left. The Eagles took their only second-half lead with 5:09 left, when two free throws by Mathieu put them ahead 69-68. St. Mary's regained the lead moments later on a jumper by Freddie Williams, who scored 21 points.
Ed Seay added 15 points for St. Mary's, while Ferguson had 12 and Benavides had 10. Strickland scored 12 points for OC.
Moon's two blocks gave him 222 for his career, moving him out of a tie with Will Reinke (2010-13) into sole possession of second place on OC's all-time list in that statistical category. Moon needs eight more blocks to break the school record now held by Micah Miles.
The Eagles face a critical game Saturday at Texas A&M International, a team that is 11-2 at home this season. OC pulled off an upset in Laredo last season, however.
"A bounce-back quickly on Saturday is a must," Cole said.
