Photo by: Henoc Kivuye
For those who missed the first battle of the big men, Saturday’s matchup at Oklahoma Christian University offered an encore performance.
The marquee matchup featured two of the Heartland Conference’s best big men. Oklahoma Christian senior Will Reinke is the second-leading scorer in the league, only behind Dallas Baptist’s Nick Fox. Last time these two met, Fox outscored Reinke, but Reinke outperformed Fox in all other aspects of the game. Reinke outrebounded Fox, posting more assists and blocks. Reinke also picked up the most important stat of the game — the win.
When these two teams last met, the game came down to the wire, with sophomore Nick Tate making a key defensive play to win the game. Previously the Eagles played great defense; Dallas Baptist struggled from behind the 3-point line, shooting only 19 percent for the game. The Patriots are the No. 1 team in the Heartland Conference in team 3-point percentage.
Dallas Baptist is a member of the NCCAA along with Oklahoma Christian, and as the season comes toward an end each game has more significance, as NCCAA rankings come into higher prominence. As one of the qualifications for the NCCAA tournament, a team must be over .500 on the season. With a win, the Eagles could mathematically eliminate the Patriots from NCCAA post-season play.
Oklahoma Christian never trailed in the game, leading wire to wire and winning 76-66. Reinke led the Eagles with 19 points and seven rebounds. Three players scored 12 points for Oklahoma Christian. Junior Kendre Talley had seven rebounds and five assists to go along with his 12 points. Senior Devan White had six rebounds and three assists in the game. Tate came off the bench and had 12 points for the Eagles.
Fox again won the scoring battle between himself and Reinke, scoring 25 points. However, Reinke outrebounded Fox for the second straight game, and also had more blocked shots. Reinke and the Eagles completed the season sweep of Dallas Baptist.
Senior Derek Johnson hit an early 3-pointer, which got the Eagles rolling early as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The lead increased from there; with 13 minutes left in the first half, Oklahoma Christian found themselves ahead 17-6. The Patriots looked as if they would keep the game close, with Fox hitting a 3-pointer that brought the game to 19-16. That was as close as the Patriots would get for the rest of the game.
After a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer by Dallas Baptist’s Jonathan Perry, Oklahoma Christian held an eight-point lead at halftime, 36-28.
Dallas Baptist again tried to claw back into the game early in the second half. With just under 14 minutes left in the game, Jonathan Perry knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 44-38. After that, the Eagles went on a 12-0 run to take control of the game.
Reinke hit his third 3-pointer of the year, to give the Eagles the lead 64-43 with just over seven minutes left to play in the game. The Patriots would not cut the lead to less than 14 points until the last minutes of the game.
The Eagles once again held the Patriots to poor shooting from behind the arc, shooting only 33 percent for the game. The Patriots average eight 3-pointers per game, and the Eagles held them to seven.
“Our scout team gave us a great look during practice, running DBU’s offense to help prepare us for the game,” Talley said. “The scout team had us very well prepared to guard their offense, because they run numerous back cuts, so we were ready to defend them.”
The Eagles shot better than the Patriots from the field as well, with the Eagles shooting 47 percent — compared to only 38 percent from the field for the Patriots. The Eagles also outshot the Patriots from the free-throw line, shooting 81 percent from the line.
Oklahoma Christian goes on the road for games on Feb. 21 and 23. The Eagles have struggled on the road this year, especially in Texas, but with only three games remaining in the regular season, every game is important.
The Eagles squared off against Texas A&M International, and after a back and forth second half, TAMIU jumped out quick in the second half to take the lead. The Eagles tried to battle back, but could never close the gap, losing by seven in Laredo, Texas. The Eagles will play their final conference road game Saturday at St. Mary’s in San Antonio, Texas. Reinke will again face another tough match up in the post against St. Mary’s. Center Kevin Kotzur is one of the best players in the Heartland Conference. Reinke and the Eagles were victorious last time they played St. Mary’s, winning 73-68.
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