OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 21-ranked Mid-America Christian University Evangels held a five-point lead with 22 seconds left, but the Oklahoma City University Stars took advantage of missed free throws and a late turnover to tie the score and went on to win 97-89 in overtime in a wild Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Saturday evening (Jan. 18) at Abe Lemons Arena on the OCU campus.
Reggie Davis scored a career-best 34 points and hit a layup that seemingly gave the Evangels a comfortable 77-70 lead with 1:17 left in regulation.
It was 77-72 when Davis missed two free throws that allowed a layup by Terry Johnson to make it a one-possession game with 19 seconds left.
Following two more misses by Davis at the charity stripe, the Evangels got it back on a missed layup by RJ McGhee, but a turnover by Josh Smith led to a game-tying three by McGhee with six seconds left.
The Evangels had a chance to win it, but a three by Semar Farris was off the mark with three seconds remaining.
Once in overtime, a three-point play by Smith and a tip-in from Davis gave the Evangels seperate three-point leads during the first 1:15 of the extra session.
At that point, the Stars took control as a three by McGhee gave the Stars the lead for good and sparked a 9-0 spurt that made it 87-82.
After Angelo Lewis made two at the line to cut the lead to three, OCU put it away when a layup by McGhee stretched the lead back to two possessions and two free throws by Johnson and then McGhee gave the Stars a commanding 93-84 edge with 36 seconds left.
The Evangels (9-5, 5-3 SAC) got off to a slow start as the Stars scored the first 13 points of the game during the opening five minutes.
It remained a 30-18 deficit when a pair of threes by Farris fueled a 9-0 run that brought the Evangels within 30-27 at the 4:33 mark.
Five straight points from Davis cut the lead to 34-32 before Kaleb Smith answered with five straight of his own to give the Stars a 39-32 lead at the break.
The Evangels scored the first four points of the second half and took their first lead of the game on a layup from Lewis that made it 44-43 with 16:16 remaining.
There would then be five ties and 11 lead changes over the next 14 minutes until the Evangels gained some seperation with an 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead.
Davis' career-best 34 points included 13-of-23 from the field and 5-of-12 from three-point distance. He also secured seven rebounds. Lewis scored 14 along with a team-high eight boards and Farris added 11 points and five steals. Luke Mergerson chipped in with 10 points.
McGhee led all scorers with 42 points and Johnson scored 23. Smith added 14 points and a game-high nine boards for the Stars (9-6, 5-3 SAC).
A big key to the outcome was the performance of both teams at the charity stripe, as the Evangels shot only 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the foul line, compared to the Stars' 79.5 percent (31-of-39) shooting at the stripe.
The Evangels will look to get back on a winning note at John Brown University on Thursday night (Jan. 23) at 8 p.m. in Siloam Springs, Ark.
