JOPLIN, Mo. – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team prevailed in overtime at Ozark Christian College on Saturday afternoon to a 95-86 final. Despite trailing by 13 points at halftime and surrendering 50 points in the first stanza thanks to seven made treys by the Ambassadors, it was the Crusaders that captured the momentum on a 16-3 surge that peaked on a steal and dunk by
Caleb Willis with 4:37 to go in regulation. OCC scored the next three points, but a pair of free throws by Battles and a layup by the 6-1 guard from Fort Worth tied things at 76. A trey by
Jordan Harris was a trey to push the guests up for most of the rest of regulation. Harris would split at the free throw line in the past 16 seconds to require the Ambassadors to get a three-pointer to force overtime. They do on a trio of free throws to under a second on the time to conclude the game. Josiah Beckenhauer nailed all three and even had to work around two timeouts and the pressure to keep the contest alive for an extra period.
Thankfully for DCC, it was a 7-0 swing that allowed the game to go in favor of the guests. Battles had five points in that span with a crucial trey. The Crusaders never ahead by at least five points rest of overtime.
Battles delivered his best performance to date with 24 points. He was 9-for-14 and 4-for-9 from downtown. The guard added three rebounds and assists. A quartet of Crusaders achieved double figures in scored with
Jairus Allen was next with 18 to go with personal-high 15 rebounds on his double-double.
Tilyr Hobson and Harris each had 12 points apiece. All 10 individuals scored and contributed to the season-high in points.
The Allen brothers combined for 25 rebounds, with
Joseph Allen eclipsing double-digits with 10 to go with his brother's 15. Allen snatched a game-high five steals, and also had two assists and blocks. Willis posted eight points and six boards.
The Crusaders were an outstanding 49.3 percent from the floor, including 4-for-6 in overtime. The team made 11 three-pointers and attempted its highest amount of free throws of the campaign with 30. They hit 18 of them.
Ozark Christian hit a blistering 54 percent (19-35) in the first stanza including seven treys. The home team cooled off significantly in the second half with a 28 percent effort and were one for its last 14 three-point attempts in the entire game. OCC did make its free throws with a 22-for-27 effort.
DCC won the battle on the boards at 49-40 and held a 10-2 edge on second chance points. Both teams had 21 points off turnovers. The Crusaders were able to play quickly with a 25-13 advantage on fast break points, including 14-0 in the big second half. DCC was able to outdo the Ambassadors, 38-30, on points in the paint.
Battles started his big game with a layup to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead. That was the last time DCC held an advantage until 1:20 minutes remained in regulation. Battles had the first five points and the Crusaders worked to keep things close, but a hot shooting OCC squad went up double figures at 38-27 with just over six minutes before intermission. The distance between the team never stretched more than 15 points in the first 20 minutes. The largest lead of the game was 17 for the Ambassadors.
A three by Battles sliced the deficit to nine points (70-61) with just under 10 minutes to go. The Ambassadors got a three by Aason Cross after a Willis tip-in to push the scoring margin back to 10. DCC went on a 9-0 run that was highlighted by the Willis steal and dunk with 4:37 left.
The Crusaders aggressive defense and fast pace style allowed for a complete turnaround, as well as OCC cooling off from its torrid start. The Ambassadors still were able to keep in front of DCC for the next three minutes as the guests could not seem to find the go-ahead shot. A layup by Battles at 1:58 tied things at 76. After the Ambassadors split at the free throw line, DCC's Harris came through with a trifecta to lift DCC with 1:20. He had the final four points to give the Crusaders an 80-77 lead. OCC would come back with three crucial free throws and then it was all Crusaders in overtime.
The Crusaders have now gone 4-0 in overtime games, counting exhibitions, the past two seasons.
Dallas Christian wraps up its three-game road trip on Sunday at College of the Ozarks at 3 p.m.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
