Eagles extend win streak with victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies

Photo by: Will Gentry

 

Teamwork and a well-timed change of momentum made the difference for the Eagles basketball squad to bring home a win against Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

Thursday’s game against the Aggies was Oklahoma Christian University’s first appearance of the new year in the Nest. They brought it home by continuing their first successive winning stretch since November.

The Eagles led the Aggies by 13 points late in the second half. Fourteen unanswered points soon put the Aggies back on top, however.

“[The Aggies] made a great middle-of-the-second-half run on us,” Head Coach Dan Hays said. “They have some good shooters. They made good shots. We want to give them credit for making good shots.”

Panhandle’s good shooting and defense made the Eagles fight hard in the end of the second half, forcing individual players to step up to bring out a win.

The Eagles turned around and answered Panhandle State’s shooting with quick, compact plays and effective free throws.

Junior Willie Harper answered the Aggies with a 3-pointer for the Eagles. The team continued pinpoint shooting at the free-throw line to secure an 85-77 win.

Junior Nick Tate led the team in scoring with 20 points, leaving a strong impression on Hays.

“I thought Nick Tate was outstanding last night and Willie had a big shot at a key time,” Hays said. “It was good team win.”

Freshman John Moon went up with a reverse two-handed slam that sparked the crowd and brought supporters to their feet to close the game.

Moon left the Nest Thursday with 18 points to his name. Freshman Jordan VanDeKop put up 14 points, Harper had a total of 15 points for the night and senior Kendre Talley finished with nine points.

Talley, the team’s overall lead scorer, supplemented his points with nine assists, six rebounds and two steals, becoming what Hays termed the “floor leader.”

“We had five guys in double figures,” Hays said. “Our [usual] leading scorer wasn’t one of the five which is really a good sign. Kendre played a good game as our floor leader; he just didn’t have as many opportunities to shoot.”

Moon saw Talley’s drive to win as key for overcoming his tight coverage.

“They played [Talley] really close but he dished it and wants to get the win,” Moon said. “That’s all he cares about.”

The Eagles will face another strong shooting team Saturday – Newman University from Wichita, Kan.

“Newman is coming in as a hot shooting team, and they are the only team that swept us last year,” Hays said. “So we are going to need to play better. We just prepare. That’s what we’re doing right now.”

The Eagles have a different team for Newman on Saturday as opposed to last year. Six freshmen and four new starters will make this matchup completely different from last year’s meeting. The freshmen look to the upperclassmen during games for the leadership to finish strong.

The team is building off of these wins to push through and keep the strong performances coming. Freshman Jordan Rutherford saw a good effort and thinks the Eagles can keep finishing with the upper hand.

“Nick brought it the whole game,” Rutherford said. “He stepped up big when we needed him to. We needed that from the upperclassmen to lead the freshmen.”

Defensive tenacity and players’ resolve made the difference on the court Thursday against the Aggies, according to Rutherford.

“We knew that we didn’t want to lose, especially the first one home of the year,” Rutherford said. “We wanted to send the fans home happy.”

The team has a quick turnaround before facing the Newman Jets on Saturday with one full practice available and a chance to shoot around. The team expects to keep riding their winning streak into this conference matchup.

This season the team is known to create a point lead over opponents just to lose the lead and subsequently lose the game.

“We got a good win last Saturday over Dallas Baptist and we changed that,” Hays said. “We were able to sustain and finish. Last night was the same way; we’re developing more toughness and more resolve and we’re going play a lot of close games and that’s good to see. Hopefully it’s becoming a pattern.”

Rutherford concurred, noting the team’s past tendency to slowly collapse.

“We just stuck together as a team in that game,” Rutherford said. “We usually broke down in the past but we are growing and becoming one. That’s helping us fight back.”

Two hundred fans went home with more than a win last night. Coaches from the men and women’s team came together and purchased 200 free T-shirts to hand out before the women’s game on Thursday.

Coaches and players alike acknowledged a strong atmosphere in the Nest Thursday from the fans – Rutherford and Moon, in particular.

“The fans really made me laugh,” Moon said. “The students are always great and the more, the merrier.”

The crowd also had to compensate for the absence of the band from the Nest Thursday night.

“It was great,” Rutherford said. “John [Moon’s] dance started it off well and the fans loved that. It was fun and everyone was excited.”

The shirts were a gift from the teams to the fans to demonstrate how the teams want more students packing the house, having fun in the stands while supporting the Eagles.

“We want to see students involved and having fun,” Hays said. “It was good to see the support of Big Ben Meaders, and groups from the baseball and softball teams. Ben’s posse is just fantastic and we want more students to just join in and have fun.”