Men's Basketball 1/23/2014 10:57:00 PM

Stars top Texas Wesleyan 74-71

OCU improves to 6-3 in SAC play

Dema Sane paced OCU with 17 points against Texas Wesleyan.

Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University upended Texas Wesleyan 74-71 Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Terry Johnson's leaning jumper in the lane provided OCU with a 73-71 advantage with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Clutch rebounds from Jamaal Crayton and Dema Sane helped the Stars hold off the Rams and take the 74-71 victory.
The win moves the Stars to 10-6 overall and 6-3 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. OCU is 7-1 at Abe Lemons Arena this season.
"We were fortunate with that last rebound," OCU coach Dionne Phelps said. "It bounced just right for Dema to get that rebound, and that was huge for us. One of the things on that last defensive stop, we know we couldn't allow their two shooters to get an open look, 10 and 23. We felt strongly that if they got a look, they could possibly make it."
The Stars led by as many as 10 points in the first half. A fastbreak layup by Sane followed by a 3-point jumper from Kaleb Smith sparked a 10-2 OCU run and put the Stars on top 17-7 at the 12:52 mark of the first period.
Back-to-back buckets from Kenny Rhymes and a 3-pointer from Dallas Jones brought Texas Wesleyan back to within one point of the lead with 7:17 left in the half.
Johnson converted a pair of free throws and R.J. McGhee scored on the break to stake OCU to a 39-34 lead at the half.
The Stars scored 14 points off turnovers in the first frame.
In the second half, Rhymes buried a 3-point jumper at the 15:17 mark and sent the Rams on a 14-4 run. Rilwan Bakare made a pair of free throws to cap the run and give Texas Wesleyan a 57-53 lead with 11:10 to go.
OCU jumped back on top by six points on the strength of two free throws from Sane at the 6:46 mark.
The Stars clung to the lead until back-to-back second-chance buckets from Bakare tied the score at 71-71 with 1:09 remaining.
Johnson scored in the paint with 33 seconds on the clock and Sane made a free throw with 21 seconds left to put OCU in front 74-71.
Jones and Jorge Redmon each got a look from 3-point range with less than 13 seconds remaining, but neither found the bottom of the net and OCU held on to win by three points.
Texas Wesleyan outrebounded the Stars 41-30, but OCU outscored the Rams 27-10 off turnovers and 32-26 in the paint on the night,
Sane led the OCU charge with 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks. The 6-foot-8 junior shot 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.
"I'm proud of Dema," Phelps said. "We talk about it all the time, at any point, someone could be called upon to start and take major minutes."
McGhee followed with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Smith added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals. Terence Bonhomme and Johnson chipped in with 10 points apiece.
"I think because there's so much parity in this league, every game's going to be a close game," Phelps said. "We're getting through it. We were very fortunate to get this one tonight. I'm really proud of our bench. The bench came in and made a contribution tonight which we needed."
The Stars will return to action against USAO at 5 p.m. Saturday at USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha, Okla.

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