OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 14, 2017) – Oklahoma Christian fell into a hole too deep on Thursday night against Central Oklahoma.
An OC dry spell of more than six minutes in the first half allowed UCO to build a double-digit lead, and the Bronchos held off a late run to beat the Eagles 85-74 on an emotional night that included the return to the Eagles' Nest of legendary OC head coach Dan Hays, now on the UCO bench as a volunteer assistant coach.
OC (0-3) started strong, jumping to a 7-2 lead, and was up 19-16 after a 3-pointer by Elijah Strickland with 11:23 left in the first half. That was the Eagles' last basket until the 6:03 mark, and in the interim, UCO (2-1) went on a 16-1 run to build a 32-20 lead.
The Bronchos took a 41-29 lead into halftime and quickly stretched it to 20 points, opening the second half on an 11-3 spurt. UCO's advantage peaked at 23 points, on Marqueese Grayson's basket with 10:55 left.
From there, the Eagles began chipping away, and three straight 3-pointers by Strickland – who went 6 of 8 from behind the arc and led OC with a career-high 26 points – pulled them within 79-68 with 1:58 left. A put-back by Miroslav Jaksic with 51 seconds left made it 79-70, but that was as close as the Eagles came.
Jaksic scored 18 points for OC while Jordan Box had 14, but the Eagles shot just 42.6 percent from the field (23 of 54) and were outrebounded 37-26.
Grayson led five Bronchos in double figures with 18 points. Corbin Byford added 15, Marquis Johnson 13, Phabian Glasco 12 and Anthony Roberson – the younger brother of Oklahoma City Thunder player Andre Roberson, who was in attendance – 10. UCO shot 56.9 percent (29 of 51) from the field.
The Eagles' next game will be next Tuesday, when they visit former Sooner Athletic Conference rival USAO for a 7 p.m. game in Chickasha.
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