SW Indiana News

Offensive Struggle Dooms OCU Men's Basketball Against Lawrence Tech

In the Dunn Hospitality Classic, hosted by the Oakland City University, the Mighty Oaks carried a record of 7-6 against the Lawrence Tech University Blue Devils, owners of a 6-7 mark on the season. The Oaks battled to the end, but their offensive struggles proved too much for OCU to overcome, losing by the eventual final of 78-56. 

Owning no more than a one point lead in the game, the Oaks found themselves trailing 45-29 at the halftime break. Despite a closer second period, OCU managed to cut the lead under 20 points just one time after the Blue Devils built it up. LTU pulled away by as many as 27 points, cruising to an easy win in the Johnson Center.

Tyquez Priester was the only OCU player to reach double figures in the scoring column, notching 10 points off the bench on 3-9 shooting, going 4-6 from the foul line. Jake Cochran added eight counters, six of which came from the foul line, while Tanner Toopes came up with seven points despite shooting 1-6 from three point range, 3-8 overall, in the loss. Priester also led the Oaks in rebounds with six, while Allen Sims added five boards. 

Andrew Rinn paced the Blue Devils with 23 points, going 9-16 from the field, including 3-6 from three point range. Gunnar Gustafson added 15 counters on 6-8 shooting, followed by Blake Lund's 13 point effort off the bench, making 5-11 from the floor. Nathaniel Ward grabbed a game high 11 rebounds for LTU, while Rinn handed out a game best four assists. 

As a team, the Oaks connected on 18-56 (33.3%) of their field goal tries, including 4-16 (25.0%) from three point range. The Blue Devils connected on 30-66 (45.5%) of their shot attempts, making 11-29 (37.9%) from beyond the arc. OCU made only three of their first ten free throws, but finished the game missing just one of their final 14 tries to finish at 16-24 (66.7%) from the foul line. LTU made 7-16 (43.8%) of their shots from the charity stripe. 

Overall, OCU was outrebounded 49-37, including a deficite of 14-8 on the offensive glass. Each team had 11 turnovers, while LTU led in assists 16-10 and in steals 8-3, while the Oaks blocked three shots, one more than the visitors. 

Earlier in the opening game of the Dunn Hospitatlity Classic, the Cougars of Mount Vernon Nazarene University held off the IU Kokomo Cougars 67-63.

The Oaks will be back in action tomorrow against MVNU, with tipoff following the IU Kokomo game against Lawrence Tech University, which is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 pm. 

Original source can be found here.