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Oklahoma City University Athletics

Oklahoma City University
Home Of Champions|73 National Championships
Anthony Davis
85
Oklahoma City University OCU 7-4, 1-2 SAC
88
Winner Langston (Okla.) LU 8-3, 2-1 SAC
Oklahoma City University OCU
7-4, 1-2 SAC
85
Final
88
Langston (Okla.) LU
8-3, 2-1 SAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Oklahoma City University OCU 41 44 85
Langston (Okla.) LU 35 53 88

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Hoops Drops Heartbreaker at Langston

LANGSTON, Okla. - For most of the night on Thursday, the Oklahoma City University men's basketball team held the lead at Langston University. A hot start from the Stars helped them build a double-digit lead early that rose to as many as 15 points in the second half, but a late game cold spell turned into a heartbreaking ending as Langston rallied to win the game 88-85.

"In the end, it wasn't the result we wanted," noted head coach Hank Aldous after the game, "but there were a lot of positives for us to build on. We started well, and we fought hard throughout the game, we just have to finish better."

OCU jumped on top early thanks to some hot 3-point shooting. Anthony Davis made consecutive long range buckets in the first 1:19 of the game, and though Langston tied the score at 6-6 with 16:47 to play, OCU never trailed in the opening 20 minutes. Davis buried two more 3-pointers in the span of just two seconds to give OCU a 16-7 lead with 15:11 to go in the opening stanza, and Trae Bryant followed with successive triples that capped a 12-2 OCU run and pushed the lead to 22-9 at the 13:09 mark.

The lead reached as many as 13 points in the first half when Eddie Smith made it 24-11 OCU, but then Langston mounted a 10-0 run to cut the margin to just three points at 24-21. The OCU lead settled between four and six points for most of the rest of the half, and at the break, OCU led 41-35.

The Stars inched the lead out in the early stages of the second half, and Davis restored the 13-point margin at the 16:10 mark with a layup, followed moments later by a 3-pointer from Eric Wattree that gave OCU a 59-45 lead with 15:22 to play in the game. Kealon Claybourne knocked in a shot from long distance moments later to give OCU their largest lead of the night at 62-47, but Langston again rallied.

A 7-0 run from the Lions closed the gap to 62-54 with 11:30 remaining, and though the Stars managed to reclaim double digit leads on four different occasions, the Lions continued to battle back. with 5:36 on the clock, Alfonzo Anderson cut the deficit to 77-71, and after a Elie Ghomsi scored to push the lead back to eight, another 7-0 Langston spurt pulled the Lions to within a single point at 79-78 with 2:38 to go. Baskets from Davis, Ghomsi, and Rashaun Coleman restored the OCU lead to three points, but each was answered with a Langston make, and with just eight seconds left, Latarius Lloyd buried a 3-pointer to square the score at 85. An OCU turnover on the ensuing inbound pass allowed Ryan Scales to convert a traditional 3-point play with 3.4 seconds remaining, and a desperation heave at the buzzer went begging, and Langston took the win 88-85.

Davis led all scorers in the game with 28 points, and he made 11-of-17 shots in the contest. Coleman was the only OCU player in double figures, he had 11, and Davis added a team-best 11 boards to notch the double-double. Bryant and Ghomsi each had four assists in the loss.

As a team, OCU shot 32-for-58 (55.2%) from the floor, and 12-for-24 (50%) from long distance, but they were only 9-for-15 (60%) from the foul line, and they turned the basketball over 19 times which led to 18 Langston points.

OCU will return home on Saturday to take on the Central Christian College of Kansas Tigers (7-4, 0-3 SAC) at Abe Lemons Arena. Tip-off is slated for 3:45 p.m.
 
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