Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – February 24, 2017- It was a must-win situation for the Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) men’s basketball team. The Lions topped OCU 78-58 Thursday evening. No. 21 SAGU and no. 19 Oklahoma City University were in a four-way tie for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC). Now, SAGU is in a two-way tie for the second place spot.
“We focused on playing with heart like David and with Christ-like passion for 40 minutes. We have been up and down a lot this season. Things like fatigue, frustration and our lack of experience have caused us to struggle in stretches of games. A few halftime adjustments seemed to really help, especially our bench and freshmen Lance, Dareny, Dominique and KT,” explains SAGU Head Coach Donnie Bostwick .
OCU jumped out to the early lead and held it for the first 10 minutes of the game. At one point, OCU even held the 10-2 lead. Lance Tipton hit a three to propel SAGU on a 12-0 run. After that spark, the game quickly picked up the tempo and both teams started to score more.
Before the halftime buzzer, SAGU’s Keyunta Watkins made a shot in the paint to give SAGU the 35-28 halftime lead.
The Lions came out of the locker room ready to play and quickly extended their lead to double digits after a three pointer by Lance Tipton and Keyunta Watkins .
With six minutes left in the half, SAGU’s lead had grown to 23 points after Josh Williams capitalized on a fast break, scoring in the paint and getting fouled in the process. He followed up with a made free throw to make the score 61-38.
For scoring, the Lions were led by freshman Lance Tipton , who had 17 points. Keyunta Watkins scored 13 points and had three assists. Josh Williams had 10 rebounds.
OCU’s Syrus McDonald led all-scorers with 18 points.
The Lions have one more regular season game on Saturday, February 25, 2017. They will honor two seniors; Keyunta Watkins and Junior Mireles. It will also be a big game for Watkins, who is only seven points away from scoring 1,000 points during his two years at SAGU. The Lions will play St. Gregory’s University at 5pm.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, SAGU SID, [email protected]
