OKLAHOMA CITY -- On a day that featured an incredible high of their first ever NAIA Top 25 ranking in school history, the night left a bitter taste as Kaleb Smith scored with one second remaining to snap a 63-63 gridlock and send the Oklahoma City University Stars to a dramatic 65-63 win over the No. 25-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels in a Sooner Athletic Conference defensive slugfest Tuesday night (Feb. 5) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Evangels held a late four-point lead of 62-58 on an Angelo Lewis putback with 41 seconds left before Terry Johnson brought OCU to within two on a second chance bucket of his own with 25 seconds left that led to an OCU foul on Josh Minner.
After Minner split a pair at the charity stripe, the Stars moved the ball around and found a wide open Shawn Grant for a game-tying trey with four seconds remaining.
OCU then forced a turnover and following a timeout, Smith got free under the basket for the winning layup with just one second left.
The Evangels still had a desperation chance, but a shot by Charlie Shorter from beyond halfcourt hit the rim and bounced off.
MACU led by eight at the half and was up 38-30 six minutes into the second half when six points from Johnson fueled an 8-0 spurt that knotted the score at the 12:05 mark.
OCU then took their first lead since the midway point of the first half as consecutive buckets by Terrence Walker made it 44-40 with 10:14 remaining.
The Evangels answered back thanks to back-to-back hustle scores from Josh Smith that keyed a 13-0 run for a 53-46 lead with 5:30 left.
Lewis paced the Evangels (12-8, 7-4 SAC) with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Shorter had a team-high 17 points and four steals. Shorter and Camilo Valencia each had four assists.
Johnson led four Stars (12-7, 5-6 SAC) in double-figures with 16 points and seven boards and Smith added 14. Charlton Jones scored 12 along with seven boards and six assists. Adams chipped in with 10 points for OCU.
Both squads struggled offensively throughout, with the Stars shooting 36.1 percent (22-of-61) and the Evangels 35.9 percent (23-of-64). But after the Evangels stifled the Stars to only 25.8 percent (8-of-31) in the opening half, OCU warmed up to a 46.7 percent (14-of-30) clip in the second.
The Evangels out-rebounded the Stars 45-39 overall and 18-14 on the offensive glass, but were hurt by 21 turnovers, particularly down the stretch.
MACU will have to shake this one off and get ready for No. 20-ranked Rogers State University on Thursday night (Feb. 7) at 8 p.m. The Evangels bested the then No. 9-ranked RSU Hillcats earlier this season (Jan. 5) in Claremore, Okla.
