USAO’s men’s basketball team (18-7, 13-6 SAC) tipped-off against the John Brown University (JBU) Golden Eagles (13-11, 11-8 SAC) at the Drover Fieldhouse Thursday, Feb. 15. USAO suffered a tough loss on the road against Wayland Baptist University (WBU) the previous weekend.
After the tip, the Drovers played championship level defense, as they held JBU at two points until the last eight minutes of the game. At that point, USAO led 24-2, but the Golden Eagles started finding their footing as they hit a three-point shot. The Golden Eagles felt the pressure and somewhat recovered to cut the lead to 37-21, in favor of the Drovers. JBU shot 22.6% from the field compared to USAO’s 44.1%.
After halftime, the Drovers did not let up on either side of the ball. Their second half field goal percentage increased to 48.4%, while the Golden Eagles saw a slight improvement to 35.3%. Overall JBU saw a depressing 29.2% field goal percentage for the whole game. In the second half, USAO put up 45 points on the board in the second half. JBU picked up a little bit of steam as they added 38 of their own points. However, USAO walked away with the 82-59 victory.
Reggie Quezada, the Drovers leading scorer, had 19 points and six rebounds. He was followed by veteran player Rory Pantophlet with 13 points and six rebounds. However, perhaps the most effective player on Thursday night for the Drovers was Jaden Harrell. Harrell, a third year point guard, had seven points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He was only a few more plays away from achieving a triple double and handled the ball quite a lot, recording only one turnover.
The Drovers had nine more players score Thursday. Crucial points also came from Niiehii Blackbear, Tyler Cauley, Lendy Holmes, Ryein Kennedy, Manny Gatkek, Cade Allen, Logan Dolan, Jaden Causwell, and Tre Edwards. This brought the total amount of scorers to 12 different players for the Drovers. Essentially, with an evenly distributed offense and extremely energetic defense, the Drovers defended their house efficiently.
This win was important for USAO because they are now in a three-way tie for third place in the SAC. This also means that they are within one game of second place. With three games remaining, it is not unrealistic for the Drovers to pull off a second-place finish, which would mean home court advantage in the play offs.
USAO will be on the road against Oklahoma City University (OCU) Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3:45 p.m.
Quentin Mantooth is a second-year business administration major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
