Sooners With Third Game In Three Games In Belgium

The University of Oklahoma men's basketball team used a 21-5 run over the game's final 5:28 to post an 89-68 win over St. Jan-Antwerp in an exhibition game Saturday in Antwerp, Belgium.

OU, which improved to 3-0 during its five-game European tour, jumped out to a 28-12 lead early in the second quarter thanks in large part to its swarming defense and a fast start by senior Cameron Clark.

St. Jan-Antwerp countered with an 8-0 run to make the score 28-20 and the Sooners eventually led 37-27 at halftime.

From there, OU's advantage hovered between nine and 16 points until a fourth-quarter opponent rally cut the margin to just five (68-63) with 5:50 remaining.

That's when freshman point guard Jordan Woodard triggered a 15-2 OU response by hitting a 3-pointer from the left wing. Senior forward Tyler Neal added back-to-back treys during the run to help sew up the win for the Sooners.

"A good finish," said OU head coach Lon Kruger. "A little sporadic with our play; it was the third game in three days. Coming back today in an afternoon game, I thought our guys battled that pretty well. We had good stretches in the ball game. We need to continue to work on identifying what we want to do defensively and do it a little more consistently. But we had a lot of good play."

Clark led five Sooners in double figures with a team-high 18 points. He had 12 points by halftime and finished 8-for-13 from the field. He also led the Sooners with 11 rebounds and contributed three assists and two steals.

Joining Clark in double-figures scoring were Ryan Spangler (14), Je'lon Hornbeak and Tyler Neal (12 each) and Woodard (10). Isaiah Cousins contributed nine points and D.J. Bennett seven.

Spangler pulled down nine boards for a near double-double while Woodard paced OU with six assists and six steals. Hornbeak logged four steals for the third straight game.

The game was sloppy at times, with St. Jan-Antwerp committing 25 turnovers and OU 14. The Sooners shot .453 from the field, .429 from 3-point range (9-for-21) and .632 from the foul line (12-for-19). St. Jan-Antwerp posted respective marks of .412, .278 (5-for-18) and .389 (7-for-18).

Neal struggled offensively in OU's first two games, averaging 3.0 points and going 0-for-4 from 3-point distance. On Saturday, however, he was 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

"I had some open looks and was just trying to stay confident and knock it down," explained Neal. "It felt good to see a couple early ones go through and that definitely helped later in the game."

St. Jan-Antwerp, a Belgium Division II semi-pro team, was led by Ashley Druwez's 18 points. He was 7-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Idris Lasisi added 11 points and Vincent Kesteloot 10.

With three wins in Belgium under their belt, the Sooners now head to France for the final leg of their 11-day tour. They will spend Sunday touring Normandy, site of the World War II D-Day Invasions before going to Paris for their two final games on Wednesday and Thursday.

"That'll be a great trip," said Kruger. "We've played three games in three days and now we'll get a couple of days off, one of them to travel to Normandy Beach. I know our guys are looking forward to that."