WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS – Yorgio Golesis sets a new career-high with 23 points as the Stars late push falls short on Thursday night in the 85-76 defeat. 

SAGU (9-3, 5-1) wasted no time getting started by jumping out to a 9-0 lead from the tip as the top scorer in the Sooner Athletic Conference CJ Hall nailed his first three-pointer of the night during the run. 

Oklahoma City (3-9, 1-5) made its way back with an 8-1 run as Golesis, Brandon Jackson, James Cloud, and Parker Jones all scored to close in on the SAGU lead. 

The Lions ran their lead back up to 10 however Oklahoma City continued to fight its way back in it and finished the first half within single digits as the Australian big man Jack McWilliams scored the last five OCU points of the half.  

SAGU broke out to an 18-point lead opening the half with a 13-3 run to take its biggest lead of the night. Oklahoma City was able to bring it down to eight after Nick Bonifay sank a three-pointer with 7:56 to go. 

OCU continued to push closer, however, for everything the Stars gave SAGU kept on returning the favor, closing out the contest with free throws down the stretch to move on to an 85-76 win over the Stars on Thursday night. 

Yorgio Golesis tallied a game-high 23 points as the freshman surpassed his season-high total set back on Dec. 9 when he went for 21 points against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Golesis made his presence felt by setting a new season-high with seven assists along with seven rebounds for the second game in a row.  

Senior Nick Bonifay made his first career start on Thursday night as Bonifay went for a career-high 11 points while knocking down three of the five OCU three-pointers.  

Parker Jones and Clayton Jewell rounded out the Stars double-figure scorers as Jones shot 5-11 from the field while grabbing seven rebounds and two steals. Jewell collected a season-high 30 minutes of action as the freshman reached the double-digit mark for the fourth time this season.  

OCU dropped its second consecutive game against the Lions while falling for the seventh time in the last nine meetings. SAGU's win brings the all-time series record to 14-8 in favor of the Lions dating back to when the series began in 2014.
  
Oklahoma City will stay on the road in Texas as the Stars take on UNT-Dallas in Saturday's afternoon matchup in Dallas, Texas at 3:45 PM.