FORT WORTH, Texas – The Oklahoma City University men's basketball team dropped a 98-76 decision to Texas Wesleyan on Saturday at the Sid Richardson Center.
Lou Dunbar, a junior from Seabrook, Texas, led OCU with 22 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and five 3-pointers. Oklahoma City, ranked eighth in NAIA Division I, dropped their third straight game in Sooner Athletic Conference play and moved to 13-5, 4-4 SAC on the season.
Texas Wesleyan, ranked 12th in Division I, used a 15-0 run to end the first half and move ahead 48-33. The Stars failed to cut the lead to single digits at any point in the second half.
"I know the score doesn't indicate many positives," OCU head coach Vinay Patel said, "but that's as proud of a team as I've even been. We have been looking for this kind of energy and effort the past couple of weeks now. We were very short handed with three guards out with injury, but we continued to battle."
Xavier Smith provided OCU with his 10th double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
OCU outrebounded the Rams 46-42 in the game, but Texas Wesleyan held a 25-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
"We played a ton of guys out of position throughout the night and did some things defensively that we didn't have much time to practice," Patel said. "Once we get a couple of these guys back, I see this team finding success moving forward. Give them a ton of credit for flying up and down the court and giving us a lot of issues in transition. There is a reason they are once again one of the best in the league."
The Stars will play their next game 8 p.m. Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena against USAO.