Men's Basketball 2/11/2014 11:46:00 PM

OCU socks Southwestern Christian 88-75

Stars reach 85 points for third consecutive outing

R.J. McGhee went for at least 20 points for the sixth time this season.

Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University prevailed 88-75 over Southwestern Christian on Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena.
R.J. McGhee, a senior from Baton Rouge, La., led the Stars with 24 points and seven rebounds. OCU improved to 13-8, 9-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball.
Kaleb Smith, a senior from Choctaw, Okla., supplied OCU with 16 points, three rebounds and two steals while shooting 6-for-8 from the field. Terrence Walker, a senior from Jonesboro, Ark., posted 16 points and seven rebounds for OCU.
Walker topped the Stars' subs, who built a 37-2 advantage in bench points. Terence Bonhomme and Terry Johnson each scored nine points off the pine.
"Our bench really came in and helped," OCU coach Dionne Phelps said. "They focused in and locked in on the scouting report. It's a tribute to our depth. They're starting to help us. We're going to need them as we get around to the latter part of conference. We're going to need them to perform and perform at a high level for us."
OCU shot 50.8 percent from the floor and sank 66.7 percent in the second half. The Stars hit 50 percent of their shots for the third consecutive game.
Late in the first half, OCU widened its lead to 39-21 using a 7-0 run. McGhee sandwiched two breakaway lay-ins around Dema Sane free throws.
Sane nailed a free throw to match the Stars' largest cushion in the second half, putting OCU ahead 46-28 at the 17:15 mark.
Southwestern Christian chipped away at OCU's lead in the second. Reggie Sloan hit a 3 that cut the margin to 73-65 with 4:59 remaining. Smith answered with a trey, then canned another that created an 81-67 OCU advantage with 2:50 left.
OCU maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game. The Stars held Southwestern Christian to 40.4 percent shooting – 32.1 percent in the first period, but 48.3 percent in the second.
"At this point and time in the season, your defense is going to be the thing that wins us games," Phelps said. "I don't think we particularly played the best defense tonight. We were fortunate to get the win when you play like that. At the end of the day, I hope our guys lock back in and get some focus defensively because there's a tough team in Plainview, Texas."
The Stars meet Wayland Baptist (Texas) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Plainview, Texas.

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