Dustdevils blow through Eagles at home

Elijah Strickland scored seven for the Eagles on Saturday against Texas A&M International. — Elijah Strickland scores seven for the Eagles on Jan. 31 against Texas A&M International. *Photo by Roxi Gonzalez*

Despite a home-court advantage and a career-high performance from John Moon, Oklahoma Christian University lost with a 80-61 final score to the Texas A&M International University.

“The other team was on fire and we could not slow them down,” Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hays said.

Sophomore Luis Lopez said the Dustdevils would be hard to beat because of their game tactics.

“Texas A&M International is a team that really likes to pressure,” Lopez said. “Taking care of the ball, getting inside first and then playing from there will be key for us.”

While Oklahoma Christian only turned over the ball nine times throughout Saturday’s game, they couldn’t rally to make the shots necessary to keep up offensively.

According to Hays, the team started the game well, but reverted back to shooting poorly in the second half. He said the players did not have the energy they had when playing St. Mary’s University two days prior.

Oklahoma Christian started the game with 54.5 percent shooting accuracy but decreased to 27.3 percent in the second half, bringing them to an average of nearly 41 percent.

At halftime the Dustdevils led 45-32, they finished shooting almost 61 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arch. The final score was 80-61.

Moon scored 24 points, a career-high and the most of any player in the game. He also grabbed seven rebounds, one blocked and went 12-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Jordan Rutherford also hit double-digits for the Eagles with 11 points and one assist. He was 4-for-4 from the charity strike. Jordan Box contributed eight points and Elijah Strickland added seven.

The Eagles have eight games remaining in the season, and Hays said the team must focus on moving forward and stay positive.

“It’s not a hopeless cause, we’re just going to keep working and hope that good things will come,” Hays said. “We’ve got some really good young players and we owe it to our seniors to not finish like we’re playing right now.”

The Eagles will play on the road for the next two weeks, starting at Lubbock Christian University on Feb. 5 at 8 p.m.