By Joe Malan
Staff Writer
After Ben Smith guided Northern Oklahoma College Enid to a victory Tuesday, a recruiter from Wichita State took time after the game to speak with him.
Fitting, perhaps, after the 6-foot-4 Oklahoma City sophomore scored 32 points and grabbed 20 rebounds en route to the Jets’ 98-80 victory over Pratt (Kan.) Community College at the Mabee Center.
When asked about his performance, Smith just shrugged his shoulders.
“I just play hard all the time, that’s all I try to do,” he said. “My teammates, they just know how to put me in the right place and my coaches, I like it.”
The game didn’t start out too rosy for Smith and the Jets, after two quick three pointers by Pratt’s Trae Beck gave the Beavers an 8-3 lead.
NOC Enid didn’t lead the game until the 8:01 mark in the first half, when a two-point bucket gave the Jets a 20-19 advantage.
At halftime, NOC Enid was only up by two, 42-40.
NOC Enid head coach Greg Shamburg says his team didn’t play well in the first half, but stepped up in the second half.
“I thought the last, maybe 10 to 12 minutes (of the game), we kind of just exerted ourselves to really make a run, a spurt there,” he said. “I thought the first, maybe 20 minutes they outworked us and the last 10, we probably outworked them.”
The game remained tight six minutes into the second half with Pratt ahead 54-53.
But momentum shifted at the 11:27 mark, when Jets freshman Mychael Hearn was fouled going up for a 3-pointer at the top of the key.
He swished the shot, the crowd went wild, and he made the free throw to make it a four-point play and put NOC Enid up, 66-61.
The Jets never trailed after that point.
The Jets’ scoring was aided by sophomore Juleous Grant, of Nova Scotia, who contributed 19 points in the winning cause. Christian Simmons, also a sophomore, scored 13 points for the Jets.
Perhaps NOC Enid’s biggest challenge Tuesday night was trying to slow down the tandem of Illiwa Baldwin, a 6-11 sophomore from Brisbane, Australia, and the hot-shooting Beck, a freshman from Coldwater, Kan.
Beck hit seven three pointers and wound up with a total of 23 points.
Baldwin had 18 points, and was often doubled-teamed down low by the Jets.
The win gives NOC Enid (5-1) a season split with Pratt, who beat the Jets the second game of the season, 75-72.
NOC Enid’s next game is 8 p.m. Thursday at home against Carl Albert. In celebrating NOC Enid’s 10th anniversary, fans not only will be admitted free but will receive popcorn, too.
Women
NOC Enid 77, Pratt 55
Darcie Dick scored 20 points Tuesday as the Lady Jets cruised to a 77-55 victory over Pratt’s Lady Beavers.
The Lady Jets never trailed after jumping off to a 10-1 lead. They extended the lead to as much as 24-7 with 8:40 to go until halftime.
They were up 43-20 at halftime.
Platt went on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 58-37 with 9:40 remaining. But by that time, the game was all but out of reach.
Sophomore Tiffany Goldwire and freshman Katie Beebe scored 11 points each to contribute to the Lady Jets’ big win.
Freshman Abbey Rudd came off the bench for the Lady Beavers and scored 17 points — including in the second half.
The undefeated Lady Jets (7-0) will host Carl Albert at 6 p.m. Thursday.º
