WAXAHACHIE, Texas – Oklahoma City University evened up the regular-season series against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) with a 52-49 win on Saturday at the Sheaffer Center.
Terence Bonhomme, a sophomore from St. Martinville, La., hit a free throw to stretch the OCU lead to three points with 15 seconds left in the game. On the following possession, the Stars defense held as the Lions shot attempt fell short. OCU, ranked 25th in NAIA Division I men's basketball, improved to 11-7 overall and 8-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Bonhomme led the Stars with 15 points, while Dorion Gigger, a junior from Oklahoma City, added nine points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
At the half, OCU trailed the Lions 31-24 but the Stars outscored SAGU 28-18 in the second half.
The Lions led by as many as eight points at 37-29 with 9:13 left in the game, when the Stars started to chip at the lead. Noel Allen, a senior from Guttenberg, N.J., made a bucket in the paint, then after a SAGU free-throw, Caleb House of OCU scored off the bench to make it 38-33 at the 7:48 mark.
After a pair of free throws by the Lions to stretch their lead to seven points, the Stars went on a 6-0 run to bring the game within one at 40-39. Emmanuel Adoyi of SAGU scored in the paint, then Gigger hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game at 42-42 with four minutes remaining.
Bonhomme's jumper at the 2:43 mark gave the Stars the 46-44 advantage, their first lead since the first bucket of the game.
The next possessions went back-and-forth as SAGU's Rishaad Alexander made a pair of free throws, House hit a jumper, Alexander responded with a jumper, followed by Gigger converting on two free throws to keep the Stars on top 50-48 with a 1:27 left to play.
With a little over a minute left, Alexander made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to cut the OCU lead to 50-49 but that was the closest the Lions reached as the Stars' Jamil Donovan and Bonhomme stretched the OCU lead to three points with single free throws apiece.
The Stars shot 31.5 percent from the field and held the Lions to a 28.6 shooting percentage. SAGU made 14 of 17 free throws, while OCU shot 16-of-22 from the foul line.
The Lions outrebounded the Stars 43-39.
Allen notched six points and six rebounds, while House, a junior from Oklahoma City, finished with two rebounds and four points, his first points of the season.
The Stars face Wayland Baptist (Texas) at 8 p.m. Thursday in Plainview, Texas.