Edmond, Oklahoma,   The Western Colorado Men's Basketball team opened their season on the road against Oklahoma Christian University on Sunday afternoon.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: OCU def. Western Colorado, 71-63
Records: Western Colorado 0-1 | Oklahoma Christian 1-0
Location: Edmond, Okla. / Dave Smith Athletic Center

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers won the jump which resulted in a made three by senior Kade Juelfs. Swapped buckets by the respective teams kept WCU in the lead 5-4. The Eagles jumped to a 11-5 advantage but four points from junior Trevin Lieck cut the deficit 11-9.  
• WCU trailed for the next few minutes until the score saw a 15-15 draw. Western broke the tie as senior Amar Rivers sunk two free throws 17-15. Another tie at 17-a-piece but WCU went on a 10-point scoring run, junior Ty Buckmon with three buckets in a row combined with a shot behind the arch by sophomore Tyler Halligan 26-17.
• Lieck finished around the rim to put the Mountaineers up by ten 28-28, with six minutes left in the first. OCU came back and got within two 30-28. Senior Trey Anderson scored the final four points of the half, putting WCU up 33-28 going into the locker room.
• Forty seconds into the second half, Buckmon hit a jumper 35-28. The Eagles answered back with back-to-back jumpers to make it a two-point contest 35-33. OCU tied the score twice then took the lead 42-39 in the fifth minute of the half.
• Oklahoma Christian went up by five but an offensive rebound by junior Andrew Reichart and a second chance three-pointer by Rivers cut the margin 45-44. With twelve minutes to go, the scores went back and forth but OCU kept the lead.
• Around the third minute mark, Halligan went two-for-two from the charity stripe and sunk a hook shot combined with a trey ball by Juelfs put WCU down by six 67-61. Anderson put up another bucket for the Mountaineers, but the Eagles sunk their final free-throws resulting in a 71-63 victory for Oklahoma Christian.

 
COURT NOTES

• Three Mountaineers scored in double digits, Lieck with 12, Halligan 11 and Rivers 10. Anderson contributed 9 points followed by Buckmon with 8 and Reichart and Juelfs respectfully with 6.
• Junior Jamel Hollins paved the way on defense pulling down 7 rebounds with the addition of a steal. Next, Rivers with 6 boards, 2 blocks and a steal.
• The Mountaineers had more second chance points than OCU with 10, as well as more bench points (20). WCU created 14 of their points off of turnovers and 36 points were in the paint.

 
UP NEXT
The Mountaineer men's basketball team travels to Wichita Falls, Texas to compete against Midwestern State University on Friday November 15 at 6:30pm MT.
For more information visit gomountaineers.com.