LAREDO, Texas (Jan. 20, 2022) – Using only six players, Oklahoma Christian on Thursday night posted one of the most stunning results so far this basketball season in the Lone Star Conference.
Nyk Madison scored 16 points and made a critical block in the final minute as OC hung on for a 63-61 win over Texas A&M International inside TAMIU's Kinesiology and Convocation Center. The Eagles' second straight LSC road win came against an opponent that was among those receiving votes in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association's national poll.
OC (6-11, 3-4 LSC) vaulted into 10th place in the LSC standings. It's still early, of course, but the top 12 teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the league's postseason tournament and the win over TAMIU (10-4, 2-1) surely will help OC's cause. Of the LSC's 17 teams, only OC and Arkansas-Fort Smith (who the Eagles beat last week) have played as many as seven league games to date.
Drew Tennial posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for OC, while
Moun'Tae Edmundson added 15 points. Those two joined Madison and
Anthony Johnson,
D.J. Walter and
Justin Nimmer in the OC rotation against the Dustdevils, who used 12 players. The Eagles outrebounded TAMIU 32-29 and shot 52.6 percent (20 of 38) from the field while limiting the Dustdevils to 35.2-percent shooting (19 of 54).
OC is 5-2 against the Dustdevils in its seven games in south Texas (dating back to the 2015-16 season) and the Eagles have won four of their last five games against TAMIU overall.
The Eagles led for much of the first half Thursday but trailed 27-26 at halftime. TAMIU took its biggest lead at 33-28 with 17:51 left and the Dustdevils were up 36-34 with 15:08 left before OC went on a 10-0 run. Edmundson's three-point play with 13:05 left gave the Eagles a 44-36 lead.
OC never trailed after that, but the Dustdevils kept the proverbial heat on and trailed only 54-52 after La-Quiem Walker scored with 5:04 left. But Nimmer and Edmundson each hit a pair of free throws and Tennial scored on a drive, extending the Eagles' lead to 60-52 with 2:51 left.
OC led 62-57 after a basket by Madison with 1:08 left, but then had to survive a wild final minute. Madison blocked a layup attempt by Tiras Morton with 49 seconds left and Tennial rebounded for the Eagles before Morton fouled OC's Johnson.
But officials then stopped the game and after a delay that lasted almost four minutes, they called a Class A technical foul on Tennial. Edmundson missed both free throws for OC before Morton split a pair for the Dustdevils, all with the clock stopped, and TAMIU was awarded possession. The Dustdevils took advantage, as Journee Phillips hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, pulling TAMIU within 62-61.
TAMIU waited until eight seconds were left before Anthony Scott fouled Edmundson, who missed the first free throw before making the second. TAMIU called timeout with 5.7 seconds left before Phillips air-balled a 15-foot shot. The basketball went out of bounds and OC inbounded and ran out the clock.
Phillips led the Dustdevils with 15 points, while Morton and Jermaine Drewey each scored nine.
OC will visit another south Texas LSC member, Texas A&M-Kingsville, for a game on Saturday afternoon, then will host Arkansas-Fort Smith next Thursday.
