OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University dropped a 78-64 decision to Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Monday afternoon in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament semifinals at the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Stars (17-14) made their 19th appearance in the SAC Tournament semifinals in the 29-year history of the league tournament. OCU was striving to reach the conference tournament title game for the 14th time.
Oklahoma City sliced its deficit to 63-59 on Romario Spence's layup with 4:58 remaining in the game. Southwestern Assemblies of God, ranked 24th in the NAIA, shot 11-for-12 from the foul line in the final 3:17 to secure its spot in the SAC Tournament championship game 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Gaulke Activity Center.
Joel Polius' bucket put Southwestern Assemblies of God ahead 46-29 at the 17:01 mark of the second half. The Stars responded with an 11-2 run. Ryan Birt ignited the OCU surge by canning a trey, and Elie Ghomsi added a 3-point play. Rashaun Coleman nailed three free throws to whittle OCU's deficit to 48-40 with 14:50 left.
Coleman, a senior from Houston, totaled 21 points and five rebounds to bring his career total to 1,013 career points. Romario Spence, a senior from Luton, England, chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City. Ghomsi came off the bench to provide 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in nine minutes of play.
Prior to Monday's loss, the Stars had put together a four-game winning streak. OCU went to 2-6 against top-25 competition this season.
The NAIA will reveal the qualifiers and bracket for the NAIA Championship Opening Round at 7 p.m. Thursday on the NAIA Facebook page.
| 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 |
Wayland Baptist 73, Science & Arts 68 |
| Game 10 |
SW Assemblies of God 78, Oklahoma City 64 |
| TUESDAY, MARCH 1 |
| Championship |
| Game 11 |
SW Assemblies of God vs. Wayland Baptist |
5:30 p.m. |
