Box Score There was something about the goal on the east end of Hutcherson Center on Thursday night. The ball just seemed to go right through it, helping the Eagles of Oklahoma Christian win a thrilling 85-80 overtime game.
In the first half of Thursday's contest, the WBU men played offense on that east end and shot an amazing 64 percent from the field, missing just one of their eight three-point attempts. The Pioneers held a 24 point advantage, 46-22, at one point in the opening period, and eventually took a 51-34 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
As is the custom in basketball games, the two teams switched ends of the floor for the second period, and that spelled doom for the Wayland. Shooting on the other end, the Pioneers hit a mere 29 percent of their field goal attempts, coming up with just two three-pointers , and one of those didn't come until 27 seconds was left in the overtime period.
OC, meanwhile, hit 6-of-9 from the three-point line in the second half, and were 2-for-2 in the extra five minutes.
George Williams led all scorers in the game with 23 points. Johnny Terra, who was a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arch in the first 20 minutes, finished with 19 points, Rodrigo Silva added 18 on the inside, and Bobby Watkins posted 13 points.
Silva got his second straight double-double, coming down with a career-high 14 rebounds. The Pioneers won the battle of the boards, 39-30, and put in 28 second chance points. They also outscored OC 32-24 in the paint.
WBU had just one more turnover than the visitors, but OC converted the 12 Pioneer turnovers into 21 points. The Eagles also got 24 points from their bench.
The loss was the sixth straight for the Wayland men, which are now 6-12 overall and 1-10 in conference play. OC, which was led in scoring by Devan White's 17 points, improved to 12-6 on the season and 6-5 in the SAC.
The Pioneers hope to rebound from the loss on Saturday with a home game against Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 pm.
