ENID, Okla. — Northern Oklahoma College Enid men’s basketball coach Chris Gerber was not discouraged after a 73-59 loss to No. 3 Odessa (Texas) at the Midwest Scouting Service Elite Eight at NOC Enid Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.
The Jets led by as many as eight, 21-13, with 10:17 left in the first half before the Wranglers used runs of 8-0 and 12-2 to go up 36-30 with 1:40 before intermission.
The Wranglers led 38-34 at halftime and created separation with nine unanswered points to take a 47-35 advantage with 15:41 remaining. After that, the Jets couldn’t get any closer than 11 points.
“Just too many athletes," an observer told Gerber after the game.
“They’re a good team for a reason," Gerber said. “They were able to wear us down. I’m proud of the way that we competed. We got better."
Getting better is Gerber’s No. 1 goal for the festival. NOC Enid faces Blinn (Texas) at 2 p.m. Monday.
“Playing these Texas schools will make us better," he said. “We got better today. We’ll see how we handle it tomorrow (against) Blinn, and see if we can get better again."
Gerber said he was pleased with how his team competed and shared the ball. NOC Enid was 22 of 51 from the field and 13 of 21 from the foul line.
Cahlese Lee had 13 and Kevin Hudson had 12 to lead the Jets. Nate Brown scored nine.
“We need to find the guys who can make the shots and play shut-down defense when we need it," Gerber said.
Odessa was 22 of 51 from the field, as well, but 21 of 39 from the foul line. The Wranglers had eight three-pointers to the Jets' two.
Gerber said the foul differential was “us not playing defense the right way. They were aggressive and they did it the right way."
Willie Lightfoot had 20 points for the Wranglers. He had 15 points after intermission and hit four three-pointers."
Monday’s other games pit New Mexico Military Institute against Missouri West Plains at 10 a.m., Odessa against Seminole at Noon, Midland (Texas) against NOC Tonkawa at 4 and South Plains vs. Murray State at 6.
ODESSA 73, NOC ENID 59
Odessa 38 35 — 73
NOC 34 25 — 59
Odessa — Lightfoot 20, Mellock 10, Sanders 8, Maclin 8, Houston 7, Woods 7, Pippa-White 7, Ray 5, Walden 1
NOC Enid — Lee 13, Hudson 12, Brown 9, England 5, Scott 5, Daniels 5, Perry 4. Gore 4, Twa 2,