CHICKASHA, Okla. – After clawing back from a 13-point deficit, Oklahoma City University dropped a 63-62 heartbreaker at USAO Fieldhouse on Saturday.
Dee Proby, a senior from Round Rock, Texas, led the Stars (11-7, 4-6) with 15 points. Brandon Moton, a junior from Beaumont, Texas, dropped in 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Nate Flowers added 10 points for OCU. Flowers, a senior from Waldorf, Md., also had six rebounds and three steals.
Proby sank a 3-point basket with 18.1 seconds to cut USAO's lead to 63-62. After a quick foul, OCU put Ephraim Kelley at the line. Kelley missed the front half of a one-and-one, and the Stars had an opportunity to pull out the come-from-behind victory. Johnny Stephene took a shot in the final seconds that did not fall, and OCU suffered the one-point defeat after failing to collect the rebound on the errant shot.
The Stars trailed from the tip as USAO started the night with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of action. The Drovers extended their lead to 13 points midway through the first half, their largest lead of the night. OCU clawed back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to six with 8:12 remaining in the opening period of play. USAO widened the gap back to 10 points but the Stars got the final four points of the half to get the score to 37-31 heading into the break.
OCU started the second half with the first two baskets of the period to cut the lead to two. The Stars allowed USAO to extend the lead back to 10 points as late as 7:30 remaining in the game. The Drovers were led by Thomas Peters, who put in 16 points, including dropping in 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Graham Faulker added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field to help lead the Drovers charge.
Even though the Stars trailed the duration, they were down but never out until the final buzzer sounded. The Stars ended the game on a 6-0 run and nearly pulled out the win.
The Stars outrebounded the Drovers 42-32 in the loss and outshot USAO 45.8 percent to 42.4 percent from the field. OCU only managed to hit 15-of-26 of its free-throw attempts and turned the ball over 21 times.
OCU looks to recover from this loss with a home game against Oklahoma Baptist at 8 p.m. Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena.
