SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Oklahoma City University's men's basketball team came up short 81-76 at John Brown (Ark.) on Thursday evening at Murray Sells Gymnasium.

The Stars dropped to 10-6, 8-5 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. John Brown improved to 16-7, 8-7 in the SAC.

John Brown shot 50 percent from the field and defeated OCU for the second time this season. John Brown overcame a 12-point deficit.

Jerome Phillips, a senior from Chickasha, Okla., led the Stars with 17 points. Phillips made 4-of-4 from 3-point range and pulled down seven rebounds. Jeremy McCarty, a junior from Houston, had 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Chris Brown, a senior from Spencer, Okla., added 12 points.

“We played pretty well to start the game, but they [John Brown] just made shots,” OCU coach Kevin Morrissey said. “They shot 50 percent in the first half and 50 percent in the second half. It's hard to beat a team when you are going to allow them to shoot 50 percent in the game.”

OCU had a 57-45 advantage with 13:14 to play on a pair of free throws from Corey Bingham.

John Brown went on a 25-13 run over the next 10 minutes to knot the score at 70-70. Adrian Miller capped the run with a dunk with 3:14 to play.

Kavon Lytch had a chance to give OCU the lead back on the next possession, but missed a layup before fouling out. Sam Bartlett gave John Brown the lead for good with two free throws for a 72-70 lead with 2:20 left.

OCU made just two field goals in the last five minutes of the game and struggled from the free-throw line.

“To go 12-for-24 from the free-throw line in the second half is just horrendous,” Morrissey said. “We just didn't make free throws and our decision making at the end of the game was just really bad tonight.”

Phillips scored 17 points and hit all four of his 3-point attempts in the first half as OCU built a 42-34 lead at halftime. The Stars closed the first half on a 7-1 run, capped by a jumper from Al Graham at the buzzer.

OCU will look to get back on track when it hosts Rogers State at 5 p.m. on Saturday inside Abe Lemons Arena.
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