DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team fell in the first day of the MCM Elegante DCC New Year's Classic on Thursday with a 73-56 result to College of the Ozarks. A back-and-forth first half saw the teams locked at 31-all. However, the guests would outscore DCC 42-25 in the second stanza to take the win.
College of the Ozarks improved to 7-9 overall with the victory, while DCC fell to 1-6 overall and 1-3 against opponents in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA).
Jordan Harris was the only Crusader to notch double figures with 14 points. All four field goals he made were three-pointers. The guard also had three assists and a steal.
Joseph Allen grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, including five offensive. He tossed in six points and had a pair of blocks. His brother,
Jairus Allen and
Tilyr Hobson matched each other for second most points with eight. Hobson had seven boards and Allen dished a game-high six assists. The Crusaders scored the only fast break points of the game (10).
The Crusaders shot 32.5 percent in the first half, but were able to fight to keep the game tied at the break. College of the Ozarks had shot 42.3 percent and made one more three-pointer (5) and three more free throws (4-6). DCC could not get going, as the second half saw the home team shoot 24.2 percent and go 3-for-16 from downtown.
College of the Ozarks shot 45.6 percent overall and were able to make 10 three-pointers. Kyle Flavin was a rebound off a double-double and had a game-high 17 points thanks to three treys. Josh Linehan followed in the scoring column with 15 points. Andrew Mitchell also had 15 off the bench.
DCC held the early advantage, going up by four on a triple by
Jairus Allen to make it 10-6 the first four and a half minutes. The Bobcats scored six points after a
Jalen Perez layup had made it 12-9 to go up by three. From 13:05 to 8:52, DCC was held scoreless and
Caleb Willis would break the spell with a jumper. Willis had the next bucket as well for the Crusaders, flipping the lead again. There were three lead changes by both teams in the first half and five total ties, three by DCC. The largest lead by both sides in that half was four, which the Bobcats went up 20-16 with just under six minutes to go. A steal by
Jairus Allen led to a thunderous dunk by Hobson to knot the score at 20 with four and a half minutes left. Harris put DCC up with a trey, but each the Bobcats answered with one of their own by Mitchell. Hobson had another big dunk to make it 26-23, but Mitchell chimed back with another three. He would hit a trio of three's and the last made it 31-28. It was
Tyjuan Battles that sank the final field goal of the half, at 1:07 to level the score again.
In the second half, College of the Ozarks gave an outburst to go up by as many as six within the first five minutes. A personal foul and technical foul on the Bobcats allowed DCC to gain four free throws. Harris made the first pair from the technical and
Joseph Allen was true at the line to bring it within two. The 6-4 freshman tied things with the next basket and two more free throws by
Jason Makayabo gave the Crusaders the lead after the 8-0 streak. Mitchell turned the score around again with another trifecta, as he went 5-of-7 from long range. The Bobcats went up six (49-43), but a trey by Battles would slice the gap in half at around the midway point of the half. An 11-0 run that included treys by Flavin and Linehan turned the game the remainder of the way making it a 60-46 score with 7:20 left. Field goals by Perez and Harris – a three – helped DCC nip the deficit to single-digits, but that was the closest things would get the rest of the way.
Dallas Christian looks to bounce back on Friday in day two of the tournament with Baptist Bible College at 6 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."
