The Eagles’ energy faded on the basketball court Thursday night, allowing Newman University to increase its shots and win the game 76-58.
Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hays said the team’s energy was low and therefore “didn’t get the job done.”
“Just not a good enough performance by enough players,” Hays said. “We had a few guys play well but in order for us to beat a good team like this we have to have six or seven guys play well and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
Oklahoma Christian University won the tip-off, marked the first points of the game and recorded a higher field goal percentage than Newman during the first half.
Trailing 40-33 at the start of the second half, the Eagles’ energy level began to dwindle. Their shooting accuracy decreased by 9.2 percent, they missed all seven 3-point attempts and started walking on the court.
John Moon continued to lead the team with 27 points and nine rebounds, while the other Eagles scored under 10 points each. Elijah Strickland and Daniel Eibel, the second- and third-highest scorers, added nine and five points, respectively.
The Jets pushed the pace of the game continuously, drawing 14 fouls from Oklahoma Christian and using those to shoot 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. They shot 12-28 from behind the arc and outrebounded the Eagles 37-35.
Hays said although this game proved difficult, a larger challenge awaits the team.
“We play the best team in the league Monday night,” Hays said. “We don’t get any better than this, it’s not going to be pretty.”
The Eagles host the Heartland Conference leader Dallas Baptist University on Monday at 7 p.m.
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