SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Oklahoma City University rallied past John Brown (Ark.) 89-75 on Thursday night at Bill George Arena in a matchup of ranked NAIA men's basketball teams.
Chris Williams collected 18 points to lead the Stars in limited minutes. OCU, ranked 12th in NAIA Division I, improved to 7-2, 2-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference, knocking No. 23 John Brown to 7-3, 3-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Anthony Davis turned in 16 points in his best all-around outing at OCU. Davis, a junior from Lewisville, Texas, added six rebounds, four steals, an assist and a block, while Williams, a senior from Denver, had six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 24 minutes.
Trae Bryant, Joe Clarke, Eric McCollum and Elijah Christman also joined in with double-digit scoring nights. Bryant, a junior from Wilmington, N.C., had 14 points, five assists, two steals and three rebounds. Clarke, a senior from New Rochelle, N.Y., scored 12 points, two assists, a steal and a rebound.
McCollum, a senior from Newburgh, N.Y., tallied 11 points to go with three rebounds, while Christman scored 10 with four rebounds and a steal. Mark Howell, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, dished out a team-high six assists. Oklahoma City handed out 19 assists and limited its turnovers to 13.
"Mark had six assists, and Trae had five assists both with no turnovers tonight," said OCU head coach Vinay Patel. "Our point guard spot has 11 assists and no turnovers, and that is very good. Mark has played great for us all year. He is a very unselfish player, and he does exactly what I ask of him. I am real proud of him for that. He knows when guys are getting hot and who to find. He does a great job at that."
John Brown's biggest lead in the game was on the first made shot of the game at the 19:03 mark. The Stars countered that with a 24-12 run capped off with a Clarke layup that extended OCU's lead to 11. The Golden Eagles charged right back with an 18-7 run to even the score at 31-31 on a Luke Harper trey at the 5:50 mark. The Stars closed out the scoring in the first half on a Bryant 3-pointer assisted by Williams with 34 seconds remaining to go up 48-43 at the intermission.
In the second half, OCU outscored JBU 10-2 in fast break opportunities and 10-0 in points off turnovers. For the game, the Stars pulled down 29 boards while JBU grabbed 24. JBU connected on 21 of 25 free throws and OCU made 13 of 16 from the charity stripe. The Stars as a team snagged 12 steals on the night.
Davis slammed home a dunk with 1:07 remaining to shut the door on JBU to close out a 19-6 rally. OCU had its largest lead of the night at 16.
"It was a great win, that wasn't just a good win. Any time you go on the road and win a game in this league," said Patel. "It is a tough task to do, and I was very proud of this team for coming in and taking care of business today."
The Stars will return to action 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15 in Abe Lemons Arena hosting Bacone.