Clarksville, Ark.-Tony Brock's running floater with 13 seconds left helped the Eagles past LeTourneau University 86-83 in American Southwest Conference play on Thursday night.
With the score tied 83-83, Brock shook his defender and calmly made a jumper near the basket to give Ozarks (6-7, 3-6) a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. In fact, Ozarks Clint McHenry forced a turnover on LeTourneau’s (8-7, 5-5) next possession. LeTourneau then fouled McHenry, sending him to the free throw line with just 6 seconds left. It was the fourth straight tight game in which Ozarks has played in the last two weeks and snaps a three-game losing streak.
The Eagles led 42-36 at halftime, holding a small lead for most of the first twenty minutes. The Eagles built a 44-36 lead to open the second half, but LeTourneau went on a quick 8-0 run to tie the game at 44-44 with 17:01 remaining. Neither team gained much momentum over the next nine minutes as each squad traded baskets. The YellowJackets finally made some headway when they reeled off a 11-4 run over a two-minute span to push their lead to 74-66 with under six minutes left. Ozarks, however, fought back to eventually tie the score at 78-78 when McHenry knocked in a pair of free throws at the 2:42 mark. The score was later tied at 81-81 with 1:25 left before Brock made another key basket.
Habeeb Kareem went 7-for-10 from the floor and scored 20 points. Tyler Mitchell had 16 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the field. Chris Clark added 11 points. Mitchell led the team with 7 rebounds. Brock had 7 points.
Dewones Smith led LeTourneau with 19 points.
Ozarks will host East Texas Baptist University on January 19. The game is designated as “Hall of Fame” day. Members of the U of O Sports Hall of Fame will be recognized following the women’s game. The game can be heard on the web at www.kxio-fmradio.com.
Topics: Athletics