From OCU Sports
Rich Tortorelli, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
SHAWNEE – Terence Bonhomme delivered the winning jumper in Oklahoma City University’s 93-92 win over Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) on Friday at Don Sumner Field House in a clash of ranked NAIA men’s basketball teams.
Bonhomme, a junior from St. Martinville, La., had the go-ahead basket with 21 seconds to go. The Stars, ranked 18th in NAIA Division I, remained unbeaten at 5-0, while 14th-ranked Our Lady of the Lake fell to 2-2.
OCU erased a 17-point deficit late in the first half and built a two-point margin with 2:18 left. Bonhomme posted 29 points, five rebounds and two steals.
“I’m very proud of this team for playing until the very end of that game,” OCU coach Vinay Patel said. “I was curious to see how our team was going to respond after being down by 17 and absolutely nothing going our way. We did a much better job of taking care of the ball in the second half and made some huge plays offensively down the stretch. Our effort keeps getting better and better each game, and we will continue to clean up things to help us improve and move forward.”
The Stars’ Walter Rickett, a junior from Dallas, totaled 14 points while hitting all six of his shots from the floor. Syrus McDonald, a senior from Flint, Mich., contributed 11 points and five assists, and Xavier Smith, a senior from Richardson, Texas, supplied 11 points and seven rebounds for the Stars.
Tyler Alderman, a senior from Fishers, Ind., picked up 10 points and six rebounds, while Lou Dunbar, a junior from Seabrook, Texas, added 10 points and downed all four of his field-goal attempts for OCU.
Bonhomme scored the difference-making bucket with 21 seconds left to answer P.J. Escobar’s game-tying 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.
OCU struck for a go-ahead 7-0 run as Smith put his team on top 84-83 with free throws at the 3:06 mark. McDonald’s basket punctuated OCU’s splurge and put the Stars ahead 86-83 with 2:18 left.
The Stars sliced Our Lady of the Lake’s lead to 72-63 midway through the first half. Bonhomme nailed a trey with 9:14 left to cap a 9-2 OCU run.
Michael Hagen-Daniel’s free throws gave Our Lady of the Lake a 54-37 advantage just before halftime.
OCU plays again in the St. Gregory’s Thanksgiving Classic against 24th-ranked LSU-Shreveport at 3 p.m. Saturday in Shawnee, Okla.