The Oklahoma Christian University men’s basketball team lost to hometown rival the University of Central Oklahoma on Tuesday 86-60; the first loss of the season.
Oklahoma Christian started the game competitively, keeping within four points for 12 minutes of the first half; however, the Bronchos went on an 11-1 run, and ended the half with a 40-26 lead.
In the second half, Oklahoma Christian went on an aggressive offensive streak, matching the Bronchos point for point. The Eagles were able to slightly trim UCO’s lead to 11 with 14:27 left in the game. However, the Bronchos ran away again, building their lead to 32 and eventually winning by 26.
Sophomore forward Jordan Rutherford said the team needed to focus more on defense.
“We just need to stay locked in defensively and hit shots,” Rutherford said. “It’s hard getting down and then trying to spend the rest of the half to fight back. It all starts with defense and hitting shots.”
According to Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hays, the team’s offense was too rushed.
“We’re shooting the ball too quick,” Hays said. “We need to get the ball inside more.”
Center John Moon capitalized on the times the ball was fed inside, recording his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Guards Elijah Strickland and Jordan Box contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Broncho guard Seth Heckart led UCO with 20 points, eight rebounds and 4 assists. Cal Andrews scored 16, and Garen Wright added 14.
The Eagles did not distribute the ball as effectively as the Bronchos. As a team the Eagles only had 10 assists, overshadowed by 13 turnovers. UCO had 19 assists with 13 turnovers.
Hays said players need to focus on better shot selection.
“We still aren’t taking good enough shots to beat good teams like we played last night,” Hays said after the game. “Too many threes, and too many quick threes.”
The Bronchos outshot the Eagles with a 45.3 field goal percentage. For the second game in a row the Eagles had a sub-40 field goal percentage with 35.2 percent. The Bronchos also had a strong advantage from the three-point line, shooting 40.6 percent, while the Eagles only made 25 percent of their attempts from behind the arch.
The young team will improve over the season as it creates chemistry, Rutherford said.
“On the bright side it’s still early in the year and we can easily fix things from the game and move forward,” Rutherford said. “We are such a young team, it’s going to take time to gel and get a feel for everyone. We just can’t get down – we have to take it game by game and day by day.”
The Eagles host Kansas’ Southwestern University in the Nest on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
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