East Central men hold off Bulldogs
Dec. 12—The East Central University men's basketball team seized an early advantage and held onto it throughout their 65-54 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday night in the Kerr Activities Center.
The win improved ECU's overall record to 5-3 and the Tigers are 2-1 in Great American Conference play. Southwestern left town at 1-6 and 1-2.
"We found a way tonight," said ECU men's coach Daniel Wheeler. "Multiple guys stepped up and made key plays. We had a big-time effort on the defensive end."
SWOSU briefly led with a layup after a scoreless opening minutes, but that fleeting moment was swiftly overturned by Godsgift Ezedinma's 3-pointer, giving the Tigers a lead they would safeguard for the remainder of the match.
ECU shot 42.3% from the field and connected on 5-of-10 3-point shots in the first half to keep SWOSU at bay with a 30-22 lead heading into halftime.
With no run large enough to gain a lead in the second half, the Bulldogs could not bridge the gap significantly, leaving them chasing the Tigers.
Although SWOSU managed to narrow the score to 52-48 with 6:25 remaining on the clock after an 8-2 scoring run, Ezedinma's 3-pointer ignited a decisive 13-6 run for ECU. The surge reestablished a double-digit lead, ensuring there was no chance of a SWOSU comeback.
Keyon Thomas finished with a season-high 24 points, five rebounds, and five assists, reaching double-digits for the sixth time this season.
Robel Desta collected 13 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting, three of which came from beyond the arc, to go along with five rebounds.
Bryce Woolridge pumped in a dozen points and added a team-high six rebounds in the winning effort.
Southwestern got 20 points from Jalen Johnson and 10 points from both Mark Berry and Eli Ali-Debaran. Johnson hit four 3-pointers and Berry grabbed nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
The ECU men's basketball team will return to action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
