OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Men's Basketball team suffered a blow out defeat on Thursday night to Texas Wesleyan to begin the 2025 slate. 

TOP PERFORMERS
Clayton Jewell - 12 PTS, 5 REB, 4 STL
Neil Rice - 11 PTS, 2 STL, 3-6 3PT
Lawrence Taylor Jr - 7 PTS, 1 AST, 3-5 FG

STAT OF THE GAME: Oklahoma City struggled to take care of the basketball as the team committed a season-high 25 turnovers while scoring its lowest point total of the season with 53. 

FIRST HALF: Oklahoma City trailed just once through the first seven minutes of play which came with the opening basket from Texas Wesleyan. Clayton Jewell and Yorgio Golesis got off to hot starts as the game knotted up at 12 apiece. Montez Young Jr put the Rams on top once and for all at 15-14 as the opposition heated up with a 16-2 run before OCU could cut it back to 12 with 4:28 to play after a made jumper by Brandon Wilson and a pair of free throws by Avery Jackson. The Stars went on to be shutout after Jackson's free throws allowing the Rams to climb up to a 20 point lead of 45-25 at the half. 

SECOND HALF: Coming out of the break was Texas Wesleyan on a 7-0 run before Jewell ended a nine minute scoring drought to stop the run. The Texas Wesleyan lead began to grow throughout the second period as newcomers Neil Rice and Lawrence Taylor Jr provided a boost for OCU combining for 16 points in the second half while Matt Nero put up 13 in the half for the Rams missing just shot of six total. Texas Wesleyan outscored the Stars 53-28 in the final 20 minutes of action as the final score of 98-53 was the largest lead the Rams had. 

GAME NOTES

• Oklahoma City drops its third straight game and fNextalls for the fifth time in the last six outings to bring its record to 8-6 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
• Texas Wesleyan shot a scorching 40-of-70 (57.1%) from the field while going 9-for-19 (47.4%) from beyond the arc. 
• The Rams took advantage of Oklahoma City not being able to take care of the ball seeing 36 points off turnovers going along with 52 points in the paint.
• Clayton Jewell led the Stars in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting while tabbing a season-high four steals. 
• Neil Rice made his OCU debut as a transfer from Henderson State University putting up 11 points on three makes from downtown. 
• Lawrence Taylor Jr posted a season-high seven points going 3-of-5 from the field and 1-of-2 from range.

NEXT TIME OUT: Oklahoma City gets back into action looking to snap its losing streak on the road against Science & Arts on Saturday at 4:00 PM in Chickasha, Okla. 

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