OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University knocked down seven second-half 3-pointers, and Trae Bryant turned in a season-high 23 points as OCU pulled away with a 97-71 win over Bacone on Saturday afternoon in Abe Lemons Arena.
The win lifted the Stars, ranked 14th in NAIA Division I men's basketball, to 8-2 overall on the season and 3-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play heading into Christmas break. Bacone dropped to 2-8, 0-5 SAC.
Bryant, a junior from Wilmington, N.C., finished the contest shooting 8-for-11 from the field, including a 6-of-7 mark from 3-point range. Anthony Davis, a junior from Lewisville, Texas, was next in line with 17 points, including an 11-for-11 performance from the charity stripe. Davis posted his first double-double of the season while grabbing 16 rebounds.
"Anthony Davis did a great job today," OCU head coach Vinay Patel said. "He did not have a good first half, and we challenged his effort at the half. In the second half, he really turned it around and showed us why we wanted him here. We know that he will have nights like this. A.D. has put two back-to-back games together where he has proven to everyone on our team that he can score on the inside and out, and that is what he does a really nice job of. He gives us an inside scorer, which we have really been missing this first semester."
Joe Clarke, a senior from New Rochelle, N.Y., also chipped in 17 points, while Eric McCollum, a senior from Newburgh, N.Y., added 12 points. Eric Wattree, a junior from Port Orchard, Wash., rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Mark Howell, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, dished out a game-high six assists as the Stars finished with 22 for the game.
Oklahoma City worked the boards pulling down 43 rebounds to Bacone's 25. McCollum and Elijah Christman each added seven rebounds.
OCU's biggest lead of the first half came off a Bryant 3-pointer at the 11:10 mark putting the Stars in front 20-13. OCU allowed Bacone to knock down 51.6 percent of their shots in the first half and score 11 points in the final 3:46 minutes of the first half. Bacone took its only lead during this stretch at the 1:37 mark at 38-37, before OCU closed out the half with four points to go to the intermission up 41-38.
The Stars came out of the break strong going on a 15-2 run in the first 3:44 after an Wattree triple put OCU up 56-41. Oklahoma City kept a double-digit lead the rest of the way, going up by as much as 26 to close out the game.
OCU held Bacone to 27.3 percent shooting in the second half. OCU stayed consistent shooting 57.1 percent for the second half after a 64-percent shooting first half.
The Stars return to action vs. Mid-America Christian at 7:45 p.m. Jan. 3 at Abe Lemons Arena.