Photo by SWC Staff
Oklahoma City, Okla. – For the second year in a row, the Paycom Center, home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder was an unfriendly environment for the Central Christian College men's basketball team. The Tigers, opening the 2022-23 on Tuesday afternoon against Southwestern College in the "Bridge Builder Classic" struggled in the neutral venue against the Moundbuilders.
The Tigers came out hot, and held a seven point lead, 17-10, at the 14:45 mark in the opening half, but from there it was all downhill. The Builders went on a 21-0 run to flip the script and lead 31-17 with 7:21 remaining in the half. In the last 14 minutes of the first half, the Builders outscored the Tigers 37 to 7 and at the half, the score was 47-24.
Things didn't get much better in the second half. The Builders came out of the locker room and opened up the second frame on a 13-3 run to increase their lead to 60-27 at the 15:53 mark. The Tigers continued to fight, but couldn't find stops on the defensive end, and couldn't buy a basket on the offensive end. That combination led to a 41 point deficit when the clock finally hit zeros, 97-56.
Key Statistic
The Builders dominated the paint. The Tigers were outscored 58 to 28 with many of those points coming on straight line drives by the Builder guards.
By the Numbers
It was an abysmal shooting night for the Tigers. They hit just 21 of 74 (28%) of their shots from the floor.
They made 6 of from deep for a 20% efficiency.
From the free throw line, they made just 8 of 15 attempts.
Three Tigers scored in double figures, led by a 16 point performance from Reece Warren.
The Tigers did win the turnover battle, coughing up the ball just 12 times to 22 for the Builders.
The Builders had a decided advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers 60-27.
Tiger Leaders
Points: Reece Warren (16)
Rebounds: Andre Shelby (11)
Assists: Isaiah Rivera, Andre Shelby (3)
Steals: Isaiah Rivera, Byron Staten (4)
Blocks: Andre Shelby (3)
Coaches Quote:
"It's hard to pull any positives from a game like that. I do believe we had a solid start but then we gave up a massive run, we didn't do a good job keeping them out of the paint during that stretch and we went cold. It was good to finally play someone else besides ourselves. I was happy with the way Shelby and Reece competed today, but as a group, we have a lot of learning to pull from this and we will." – Coach Romero
Next Up
The Tigers (0-1) have a quick turnaround as they will host the annual "Classic for Christ" this weekend. They will play Randall University Friday night at 8:00 pm then play Manhattan Christian at 4:00 pm on Saturday.
