OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University was hitting on all cylinders in its Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal match-up with Central Christian (Kan.) on Saturday night at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars cruised past the Tigers 85-56 to punch their ticket to the tournament semifinals.
Riding a four-game winning streak, third-seeded OCU will play the second seed and NAIA No. 24-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Monday at Gaulke Activity Center on the campus of Mid-America Christian in Oklahoma City. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. The winner of that game will play for a SAC Tournament title on Tuesday.
Central Christian (13-18) held a 11-5 lead at the 15:27 mark of the first half before OCU (17-13) went on a 35-17 run to build a 40-28 halftime lead. Junior forward
Kori Guest provided the Stars with their first double-digit lead of the game at 37-26 when he made a contested lay-up after grabbing a rebound off of a missed free throw by senior forward
Elie Ghomsi at the 1:13 mark.
OCU dominated the second half, building a 48-28 lead at the 18:33 mark on an old fashioned 3-pointer by senior guard
Ryan Birt, who made a free throw after being fouled on a made lay-up.
Junior
Dadrian Hoambrecker pushed the lead to 77-47 on a steal and fast-break lay-up at the 6:07 mark.
Five players scored in double-figures with senior guard
Rashaun Coleman leading the way with 22 points. Birt and Guest finished with 13 points apiece, senior center
Romario Spence with 12 points and Hoambrecker with 11 points.
Spence also contributed a team-high 10 rebounds with Coleman finishing with a team-high seven assists.
OCU made 30 of 66 field-goal attempts (45.5%) compared to 18 of 67 shooting (26.9%) for CCCK. The Tigers finished with a 48-47 rebounding edge.
Head coach
Mark Berokoff says that he was proud of his team's effort and he is excited about advancing in the tournament.
"For the last few weeks this team has really put things together," Berokoff said.
"At this point of the season you want to be playing your best basketball and I think we are. It is a big deal to reach the semifinals in this league and I am proud of this team for achieving that goal. We are reallt looking forward to the challenge ahead of us on Monday."
| SOONER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT |
| At Campus Sites |
| TUESDAY, FEB. 22 |
| First Round |
| Game 1 |
No. 5 John Brown 89, No. 12 Langston 73 |
| Game 2 |
No. 11 Central Christian 69, No. 6 Texas Wesleyan 64 |
| Game 3 |
No. 7 Mid-America Christian 83, No. 10 North Texas Dallas 72 |
| Game 4 |
No. 8 Southwestern Christian 103, No. 9 Panhandle State 94 |
| Quarterfinals |
| FRIDAY, FEB. 25 |
| Game 5 |
No. 1 Science & Arts 110, Southwestern Christian 100 |
| Game 6 |
No. 2 SW Assemblies of God 90, Mid-America Christian 83 |
| SATURDAY, FEB. 26 |
| Game 7 |
No. 3 Oklahoma City 85, Central Christian 56 |
| Game 8 |
No. 4 Wayland Baptist 74, John Brown 61 |
| At Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City |
| MONDAY, FEB. 28 |
| Semifinals |
| Game 9 |
Science & Arts (25-5) vs. Wayland Baptist (18-12) |
1 p.m. |
| Game 10 |
SW Assemblies of God (20-8) vs. Oklahoma City (17-13) |
3 p.m. |
| TUESDAY, MARCH 1 |
| Championship |
| Game 11 |
Semifinal Winners |
5:30 p.m. |
