OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University routed Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) 106-80 on Saturday afternoon at Abe Lemons Arena.
Chris Williams, a senior from Denver, registered 23 points and six assists for Oklahoma City. The Stars went to 10-6, 5-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball.
Williams nailed 7 of 12 field-goal attempts and 5-for-8 on 3-pointers to equal his season high for treys. OCU's Elijah Christman, a senior from Justin, Texas, posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Wattree, a junior from Port Orchard, Wash., collected 14 points while shooting 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
Mark Howell, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, notched his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 assists, and Eric McCollum, a senior from Newburgh, N.Y., provided the Stars with 10 points and six rebounds. Darrion Willies, a junior from Fontana, Calif., chipped in 10 points and four rebounds for OCU.
Oklahoma City tallied 100 points for the third time this season. The Stars handed out a season-best 29 assists while sinking 14 of 26 from 3-point land, matching OCU's season best for 3-pointers. OCU connected on a season-high 62.3 percent of its field goals and 53.8 percent from long range.
"We shared the basketball, that's something we've been working on," OCU coach Vinay Patel said. "There's a lot of people counting this basketball team out right now. I kept telling them after even last week's hard week we have a lot of fight left in our team. There's a lot of talent on this team.
"When we built this team, I had a feeling we had a great team on our hands, and it's taking us some time. It's been a little frustrating. I told them not to listen to what other people are saying about our team, we will get this thing going."
OCU reeled off a 7-0 run to start the game. The Stars built a 21-5 advantage on Christman's free throws with 12:49 left in the first half. OCU drilled 7 of its first 10 shots from the field, while Southwestern Assemblies of God hit only 1 of its first 12 field-goal tries.
"We had a major buy-in defensively in that first 10 minutes," Patel said. "I just told them in the locker room, they won that game in the first 10 minutes of the ballgame. That was about as good as we've looked defensively all year. I'm really proud of this team this week, not just tonight."
Howell's free throw gave the Stars a 106-76 lead at the 1:59 mark of the second half.
The Stars face Central Christian (Kan.) at 7:45 p.m. Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena.