ENID —



Don’t use the word revenge around Northern Oklahoma College Enid’s men basketball team going into a Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference showdown at Eastern Oklahoma State today in Wilburton.

The Jets blew a 21-point halftime lead in falling to the Mountaineers, 72-70 at the Mabee Center on Jan. 12. Eastern’s only lead came on a game-winning layup at the buzzer.

“Revenge might be overrated,’’ said Jets coach Greg Shamburg. “Some-times you just have to go play. Revenge sounds pretty good in the locker room, but it doesn’t last. You still have to play the game.’’

The Jets have higher stakes anyway.

NOC Enid, 17-6 overall and 9-3 in the OCAC, can take a big step toward the conference lead with a win over the No. 8-ranked and league leader Mountaineers (11-2).

“If that doesn’t motivate you, you don’t deserve to be in first place,’’ Shamburg said. “We should be motivated to play.’’

The Jets are riding a six-game winning streak. Eastern has won eight straight after starting the conference season at 3-2. The Mountaineers used a 40-27 second half surge to beat NOC Tonkawa, 65-61 Saturday.

“We feel if we play well, we have a chance to win,’’ Shamburg said. “When you have a six-game winning streak, you start building confidence. We need to play smart and don’t make errors and don’t turn the ball over unnecessarily.’’

The first meeting was a game of two halves. NOC Enid hit 15 of 33 shots in taking a 42-21 lead at intermission. Eastern was only 5-of-35 from the field.

The Mountaineers were 16-of-32 from the field and 14-of-21 from the line in outscoring the Jets, 51-28 in the second half.

The Jets were 8-of-22 from the field and committed 19 turnovers.

“It was not a matter of us not being able to handle their pressure,’’ Shamburg said. “We just got in a hurry. We took bad shots. We turned the ball over for no reason. It wasn’t anything they were doing. It was us being dumb and not playing smart.’’

Shamburg said the Jets “got caught up in the emotion of the game.’’

“Some strange things had to happen for them to win the game,’’ Shamburg said. “Everything came together at the end for that. I don’t expect that to happen again.’’

Looking back, Shamburg said the Jets might have let off after taking such a big lead.

“Getting a huge lead on a good team in the first half isn’t necessarily a positive,’’ he said. “We kind of let down and never got the momentum back. You see that a lot. Somebody jumps on somebody early and lets down ... you always get caught.’’

Bobby Jones and Rod Lewis led Eastern the first meeting with 14 points. Theone Chilton had 13. Xavier McClish led NOC Enid with 13 points while Kyndall Dudley and Trey Cohee both had 10.

Dudley, whose sister recently was killed in an automobile accident, won’t play tonight. He is expected to be back at practice sometime this week, Shamburg said.

NOC Enid will stick with its usual starting lineup of McClish, Dalen Qualls, Connor Brooks, Travis Carbajal and Phillip Brown. Shamburg is sticking with a nine to 10-man rotation.

“There’s no reason to change it,’’ he said. “Everybody is playing about the same amount of time anyway.’’

McClish is leading the offense with a 16.8 average. Qualls is averaging 10.6. McClish had a season-high 28 points in leading the Jets to an emotional 66-63 win over NOC Tonkawa Thursday.

Eastern is 10-2 at home this season.

“It’s a tough place to play,’’ Shamburg said. “It’s a real small gym and the fans will be on top of us. It’s different than what we’re used to.’’



Lady Jets look to clinch tie



The No. 6-ranked Lady Jets, 21-2 and 12-0, can clinch a tie for the conference championship with a win over the Lady Mountaineers, 2-11 in conference.

NOC Enid has a four-and-a-half game lead over second-place Northeastern A&M and Connors. The Lady Jets are going for their 13th straight win.

Morris said the Lady Jets can’t afford to ease up despite the big lead.

“Our goal is to make it back to the national tournament,’’ he said. “We can’t take anything for granted. Every win is important to put ourselves in a position to get as high a seed as possible for that. We have to be taking care of business.’’

Eastern can be a trap game, Morris said, especially on the road. The Lady Mountaineers won at NOC Tonkawa, 75-74 Saturday. They had three close conference losses at home — Carl Albert, 62-59; NEO, 60-57 and Seminole, 62-58. NOC Enid won the first meeting at the Mabee Center, 76-43.

“It’s a difficult environment over there,’’ Morris said. “We have to make sure to get ourselves mentally prepared.’’

Chelsea Bates, who missed Thursday’s 75-69 win over NOC Tonkawa, has not been cleared to play. She will see a doctor and trainer Julie Baggett today.

“We’ll see where Chelsea is,’’ Morris said.

Ashlyn Briegge leads the offense with a 17.7 average, followed by Marisha Wallace at 15.3 and Justice Payne at 10.8.

NOC Enid will host Seminole Saturday afternoon.