by Life on the road has been tough for the UAFS men’s basketball team.
The Lions suffered their second heart-breaking, last-second loss in a row on Saturday afternoon as the Oklahoma Christian Eagles edged the Lions 87-85 at the Eagles Nest in Oklahoma City.
It was the second two-point loss in a row for UAFS (15-11, 11-7), which lost to Newman University 90-88 on a last-second shot on Thursday night at Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.
UAFS junior forward Kenny Martin scored on a layup to tie the game at 85 points with 21 seconds left to play. Oklahoma Christian worked the clock down to three seconds when Eric Randall drained a jumper for the game-winner.
The Lions (15-11, 11-7) settled for a split against the Eagles in the regular-season series. The Eagles (6-18, 4-14) lost to the Lions 88-58 on Jan. 24 at the Stubblefield Center. The Lions, who began the week tied for first, slipped to tie for fifth place in the conference with St. Edward’s (18-7, 10-7).
St. Mary’s (15-9, 12-5) leads the conference, while Rogers State (18-8, 12-6), the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (16-9, 11-6) and Lubbock Christian (14-10, 11-6) are all tied for second.
UAFS shot 43 percent from the field (29 for 68) – it was 8-for-22 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 86 percent from the free-throw line (19 for 22). Sophomore guard Seth Youngblood (Cherokee Nation) led the Lions with 26 points, while sophomore guard Alex Cooper and junior guard Josh Harmon had 18 points apiece, Martin had 13 points and freshman guard DaVaunta Thomas had 10 points.
Martin topped off his double-double with 15 rebounds, helping the Lions out-rebound the Eagles 43-40.
Oklahoma Christian shot 47 percent from the field (35 for 74) – it was 11-for-21 shooting from 3-point range – and shot just 55 percent from the free-throw line (6 for 11). Sophomore center John Moon had a team-high 24 points, while Randall had 17 points, Jordan Rutherford 15 points and Jordan Box 13 points.
Randall topped off his double-double with 10 rebounds.
Oklahoma Christian led 48-40 at halftime behind a 44-percent shooting performance from the field (19 for 43) and a sizzling 62-percent shooting effort from 3-point range (8 for 13). Moon and Box had 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the first half to pace the Eagles.
UAFS shot 48-percent from the field in the first half (15 for 31) and 40 percent from 3-point range (15 for 31). Youngblood and Cooper led the Lions with 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the first half.
MEN
OC 87, UAFS 85
UAFS 40 45 — 85
OC 48 39 — 87
UAFS (15-11, 11-7): Youngblood 26, Cooper 18, Harmon 18, Martin 13, Thomas 10
OC (6-18, 4-14): Moon 24, Randall 17, Rutherford 15, Box 13, Strickland 6, Faurot 6, Covalt 6
