FORT WORTH, TX: The 3rd ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (23-5, 14-3 SAC) saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end at the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday. No. 25 Oklahoma City University's (14-9, 11-6 SAC) Lou Dunbar grabbed an offensive rebound and beat the buzzer to lift the Stars to a 74-73 victory.
A game that saw an amazing 21 lead changes and 15 tie scores came down to an incredible sequence at the end. Texas Wesleyan trailed 72-71 with 38 seconds to play.
Dion Rogers took a jumper in the lane that missed, but
Sam Akano grabbed the offensive board and hit an 8-foot jumper to give the Rams the lead with 17 seconds to play.
On the ensuing possession, OCU's Evan White drove to the basket but was met by
Henry Buckley who greeted him with an emphatic rejection. The ball went out of bounds with 6.8 seconds to play, and the Stars retained possession. The Rams played great defense on the inbounds play and forced the Stars to use their next to last timeout. On OCU's second inbound attempt they found White who put up a desperation three.
At that point nine of the ten men on the floor appeared to believe the game was over, but Dunbar came streaking down the lane, grabbed the offensive rebound and put the ball back with 1.5 seconds to play.
Texas Wesleyan still had a shot. A full court pass was tipped before it reached Akano's hands. The senior from Philadelphia got a turnaround jumper off, but the shot didn't go and OCU escaped with the 74-73 win.
OCU's largest lead of the game was three when the score read 25-22 early on. The Rams' largest lead came at the start when they jumped ahead 7-0. The Rams led for 26:55. The Stars led for 6:41, and the game was tied for 6:24.
Oklahoma City outshot Texas Wesleyan 50% - 45% from the floor while holding the Rams to just 33% in the second half. The Rams led 33-26 on the boards and 12-4 in second chance points. The OCU bench outscored the TWU reserves 35-18.
The game was senior night at the Sid Richardson Center as six Texas Wesleyan seniors were playing in their final home game. Fittingly the team's 1,000-point scorers led the way.
Jerell Ellis led all scorers with 26 points, while
Sam Akano finished with 16.
Chris Gracela added 6 points and 10 rebounds.
Henry Buckley finished with 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 blocks.
Terenc Bonhomme led the Stars with 17 points. Dunbar and Jonathan Reed both contributed 11 points, and Dorion Gigger added 10 for the Stars.
The Rams will play their regular season finale on Saturday at Wayland Baptist University. That game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. start in Plainview, TX.
Ramblings
- Thursday's loss snapped a 13-game winning streak.
- The Rams entered Thursday's game undefeated at home at 12-0.
- Oklahoma City now leads the all-time series 12-10 after sweeping the season series from the Rams.
- Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series with Texas Wesleyan 20-19.
