Men’s and Women’s Basketball
Drover Men Win Opener at OC
OKLAHOMA CITY – Led by Tim Nelson’s 17 points including a career-high five 3-pointers, the University of Science and Arts collected a 70-62 win at Oklahoma Christian Thursday night as the Drovers improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Drover Women hit a cold shooting streak late in the game and dropped a 65-56 decision to OC in the early game.
OC jumped out to a quick, first half lead thanks to hot starts from Jason Taylor, who finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting, and Kyle Tefft, who finished with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. But Nelson answered for the Drovers hitting his first four 3-pointers over OC’s zone defense as USAO took a 30-27 lead into halftime.
USAO controlled the pace more in the second half as the Drovers did a much better job of keeping OC from getting offensive rebounds. After the Eagles collected eight offensive rebounds in the first half converting eight second chance points, USAO dominated the boards in the second half and out-rebounded OC 32-27. Dexter Williams and Thomas Woods led all rebounders with seven, and Eli Flores pulled down six.
With USAO hitting outside shots against the zone, the driving lanes opened. Allen Harris led the Drovers with four assists as eight players scored four points or more. Darren Pore hit a couple of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, and Adam Shoffit went 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to finish with 10 points.
The Drovers finished of OC by converted 13-of-17 free throw attempts for the game with most coming during crunch time. The team has steadily improved from the line, and Thursday the team converted a season-high 76.5 percent from the stripe.
The USAO women had stretches of brilliance taking leads over the Lady Eagles several times throughout the game even without Kartesha Rambo, the team’s second leading scorer. Juliana Leite had a career night with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting including 5-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Sasha Ferguson , Je’antel Haynes and Luanna Jose each finished with eight points, but OC’s 6-foot-3 Charlotte Heron had five blocked shots and made life difficult for 5-foot-8 Charite Lewis and the rest of the Drovers in the paint. Without Rambo’s outside shooting and with a six-inch height disadvantage, Lewis, USAO’s leading scorer, finished with just two points and two rebounds. The sophomore entered the game averaging over 15 points and nine rebounds per game.
USAO led with just over nine minutes remaining, but OC turned to Lindsey Gipson, who lived at the free throw line the rest of the night. Gipson hit 15-of-16 free throw attempts despite only being 1-of-6 from the floor. OC penetrated into the lane possession after possession looking for fouls down the stretch, and the Lady Eagles outscored USAO 26-12 from the free throw line.
The USAO women look to rebound and get back into the conference race with a win over Northwestern Oklahoma Saturday at home. The Lady Rangers are 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the league after a 69-50 loss to Southern Nazarene Thursday.
Following the women’s game, the Drover men host 24th-ranked NWOSU in a battle of undefeated conference teams. The Rangers are coming off a 71-65 win over 9th-ranked SNU.###
