Back-to-back-to-back treys are one of three scoring runs
Rambo, Walter, Feemster pace the Pride; SAGU plays Thursday at Rams
Box Score, Standings links (below)
BETHANY, Oklahoma — Southwestern Assemblies of God University placed five players in double figures en route to a 79-66 road victory over Southwestern Christian University on Monday night.
The No. 3 ranked Lions, now 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference , took the lead for good at 11-9 on a three-point basket by Caleb Feemster (Addison, Tx / Trinity Chr-Addison, Ranger College ).
It was during a string of 14 unanswered points that powered SAGU to a 20-9 advantage.
Each time the host Eagles (5-5 / 1-2 in SAC) made a run; the Lions would counter with a scoring stiff-arm.
Later in the half SCU drew to within 34-31 with a 7-0 surge that was powered by 5’10 guard Reggie Sloan .
SAGU replied with back-to-back-to-back triples, two from Feemster and the third by Caleb Gentry (Hondo, Tx / Hondo HS, Ok Wesleyan Univ ) for a 43-31 upper hand. It was 43-36 at halftime.
With six different Eagles firing in triples, the hosts sliced the deficit to one on three Sloan free throws and a Tyler Turner bucket in the paint.
Team Purple led 45-44 with 16:54 left on the Pickens-Springer scoreboard.
Again the Lions replied robustly.
Nine straight points courtesy of Dominique Rambo (Dallas, Tx / Trinity Chr CH, Ok Wesleyan Univ ), a Jonathan Walter (Garland, Tx / Garland HS ) three-ball, a shot from inside the paint by Daniel Mills (Belton, Tx / Belton HS ) and a Rambo free throw after an SCU technical foul capped a 17-6 scoring spree.
The score was 62-50 with 11:23 to go.
Another Walter triple was copied by Rambo to extend the lead to 70-54 (6:43) and the Lions and Eagles exchanged scores from there.
“I felt like we came out ready to play and matched their desire to knock us off,” stated Head Coach Donnie Bostwick . “Then we used a nice run midway through the first half to push it to twelve.”
“I knew they would make a run,” he noted, “but we showed solid poise answering when they cut it to three with a run of our own.”
SAGU was able to stave off any serious comeback by limiting the Eagles to four offensive rebounds and just 27 altogether.
The Lions, who connected on 46% of their shots, helped their cause with 10 offensive caroms and 11 trifectas, all from the starting quintet.
“Different guys kept stepping up,” Bostwick pointed out. “We shot the ball better from outside, largely because we were making the extra pass and setting each other up.”
“It was “E” ( Emmanuel Adoyi ) early, and then it was Feemster, then Jon.”
While Adoyi is a highly effective defender along the baseline, Gentry is a tireless proletariat between the end lines! He leads the Sooner Athletic Conference in steals and wood burns.
“Hondo (Gentry) always gets the toughest defensive matchup,” pointed out Bostwick. “He scored a quiet 10-points and also had big offensive boards.”
“His biggest contributions don’t often show up in any statistic.”
“Our bench may not have scored a lot but I felt they really gave us energy,” quipped the coach.
“We missed Remington ( Mitchell ). He was a DNP due to a cold. So we went small.”
Rambo paced the offense with 24 points. He netted three treys and dished out six dimes.
Walter bagged 18, Feemster 14, Adoyi 11 and Gentry 10.
Ever a threat to erupt, like his 30-point night last month, Walter was highly efficient. He took just twelve shots, knocked down three threes and pulled down six rebounds.
The 6’4 junior was credited with three assists and three steals.
Another major factor continues to be the 6’6 Feemster. He tickled the twine with four triples, made three steals and led both teams with 11 rebounds.
Adoyi (like ‘a Toy’) pitched in another six caroms.
“We switched to a zone midway through the second half,” pointed out Bostwick. “It seemed to shift the momentum and we were able to finish off the game.”
“Coach ( Quinn ) Woolridge does a great job preparing his team,” Bostwick said. “He has a nice team. They’ve got some great shooters.”
He also mentioned that SCU’s Pickens-Springer Gym is a difficult place to win.
“Holding them to 34 percent from the floor during the 2nd half and under 40 percent for the game was our goal.”
The Eagles rode a 26-point showing by the 5-foot-10 Sloan. He converted all 10 of his trips to the charity stripe in beating his previous high of 25. He’s averaging 15 ppg.
Turner, his backcourt partner, chipped in with three triples and 15 points. Adam Dirlbeck , a 6’5 forward from the Czech Republic , had 10 rebounds.
ON DECK: Trek to Ft. Worth on Thursday
SAGU returns to the court on Thursday with a 45-minute road trip to Ft. Worth. They will take on Texas Wesleyan University at 8:00pm (CST).
The Rams (7-5 / 1-2 in SAC) just defeated No. 7 John Brown University on Saturday, 99-91, in overtime.
SAGU plays at home on Saturday at 5:00pm against the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma .
New Top 25 announced today
The NAIA’s Top 25 Coaches Poll will be released Tuesday afternoon at: http://www.naia.org/
Contact : Mark “Link” Warde , SAGU Sports Information Director, at [email protected] or at 469-658-2847.
SAC Standings : http://www.soonerathletic.org
