OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 13, 2021) – For the first time this basketball season, Oklahoma Christian will face a ranked opponent when the Eagles take on Lone Star Conference divisional rival Dallas Baptist (Texas) in a pair of games this week.
OC (1-5, 1-5 LSC) will host DBU (5-1, 5-1) on Thursday at 5 p.m. before making the trip south down Interstate 35 to Dallas and the Burg Center for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday.
After playing in Dallas, the Eagles will continue south on I-35 to Laredo to face LSC rival Texas A&M International on Monday and Tuesday. Those games originally were scheduled for Dec. 11-12 but were postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. Before facing OC, TAMIU (0-6, 0-6) will play a pair of games this week against St. Edward's (Texas).
OC's nonconference home games against Western New Mexico, which had been scheduled for Jan. 19-20, will not be played.
OC will allow 10 percent occupancy – or about 200 fans – per game in the Eagles' Nest. OC student-athletes, coaches and athletic department personnel will be allowed a number of pre-approved guests on a pass list. Visiting teams will be allowed a pre-approved pass list of 25 people, per LSC guidelines.
DBU is encouraging fans wishing to attend to buy tickets online at
www.dbutickets.com. Before visiting DBU's campus, visit its
campus COVID-19 page and fill out a
visitor health screening form, which fans will need to access the campus. TAMIU currently is not allowing fans at games on its campus.
This week, Dallas Baptist is ranked No. 15 in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association poll and No. 20 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' NCAA Division II poll.
After two-game sweeps of then-No. 17 Angelo State (Texas) and Cameron, the Patriots split a pair of games last week at then-No. 3 West Texas A&M, losing 84-71 on Friday before winning 87-78 on Saturday. DBU dealt the Buffaloes their first loss of the season and snapped WT's 45-game homecourt winning streak and 25-game overall winning streak.
Senior guard Chandler Jacobs (22.3 points per game) and freshman guard Ricky Lujan (20.5 ppg) provide much of the Patriots' firepower, ranking second and fourth, respectively, in the LSC in scoring. The duo is an incredible 39 of 71 from 3-point range (54.9 percent) this season and Jacobs is the reigning U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men's Division II National Player of the Week.
The freshman trio of
Elijah Elliott (17.5 ppg),
Marco Foster (15.0 ppg) and
Nyk Madison (11.0) have led OC this season. Foster's 27 points last Thursday in a narrow loss to Cameron was thought to be the highest scoring total by an OC freshman since Kelly Jobe scored 32 points in a 90-76 road win over Division I Memphis on Dec. 3, 1979.
Elliott's coast-to-coast layup an instant before the overtime buzzer on Saturday lifted the Eagles past Cameron 75-73 in Lawton.
OC split a pair of games against the Patriots last season. In Oklahoma City, OC routed the Patriots 61-42, limiting DBU to its lowest point total in program history. In the first round of the LSC tournament in Dallas, the Patriots held on for a 69-67 overtime win, ending OC's season.
OC leads the all-time series against Dallas Baptist – which dates back to 1975 – by a 21-19 count. The Patriots are 12-7 against OC since the Eagles made the move into NCAA Division II.
TAMIU has lost twice at St. Edward's (in nonconference games), twice at Midwestern State (Texas) and twice to Texas A&M-Kingsville in a home-and-home series. The Dustdevils' series this weekend against St. Edward's also is a home-and-home.
The Dustdevils' top scorers are freshman guard Journee Phillips (10.6 ppg) and junior guard Daniel Kiely (10.0 ppg). TAMIU leads the all-time series against OC 9-5 but the Eagles have won the last two meetings and are 3-3 in games played in Laredo.
