NEWS FROM THE NEST: A week for all seasons in OKWU athletics
Winter, fall and spring sports news merged together this week for Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
OKWU 72, MIDAMERICA NAZARENE 70
MANU went on a 2-0 scoring spurt in the final 3:16 but the Eagles (3-0) held on to pluck the victory in its first road game of the season.
Brandon Bird drained a two-pointer with 2:44 left to stretch the OKWU lead to 72-65.
The Eagles wouldn’t score again, but their defense and rebounding proved to be the winning difference.
With 34 seconds left, and OKWU clinging to a two-point lead, 72-70, Dylan Phillip pulled down a defensive rebound and OKWU burned 22 valuable seconds off the clock to shorten MANU’s chance. As time ran out, OKWU Derrick Talton Jr. blocked a MANU shot.
Kaleb Stokes turned in one of his best games in two years, nailing 10-of-18 field goals and scoring 24 points — to go with six rebounds and two blocked shots — to help lead the Eagles.
Jaden Lietzke added a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Phillip came off the pine to score 10 points.
Talton added a season-high 10 assists to go with six points and seven rebounds. Bird flushed the nets with nine points.
Anthony Brown filled threw in 24 points to lead MANU.
Next up, the Eagles swoop into Springfield, Mo., to take on Evangel (Mo.) in a 7 p.m. game Monday.
OKWU’s next home game is Nov. 16 against Southwestern (Kan.).
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MEN’S SOCCER
The Eagles (11-5-2) will be home Saturday to take on the Bethany (Kan.) Swedes in the opening round of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament.
Starting time is 3 p.m. at the OKWU field along Silver Lake Road.
In related news, the Eagles will have to travel for the first phase (regionals) of the NAIA national tourney.
The regional locations will be Columbia, Mo.; Dalton, Ga., Lawrenceville, Ga.; Marshall, Mo.; Miami Gardens, Fla.; Mishawaka, Ind.; Mobile, Ala.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Olathe, Kan; and Winina Lake, Ind.
Regional play is scheduled to begin on Nov. 17.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
On the women’s side, Oklahoma Wesleyan University (17-0-1) will get to host a NAIA national regional tournament.
Bartlesville is one of 10 sites where four-team, single-elimination regional tournaments will be held Each regional winner will advance to the nationals’ finals site in Orange Beach, Ala.
The 10 women’s sites are: Bartlesville, Columbia, Mo.;; Hattiesburg, Miss.; Lakeland, Fla.; Prescott, Ariz.; Pulaski, Tenn.; Spring Arbor, Mich.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Williamsburg, Ky.
OKWU is ranked No. 6 nationally in women’s soccer.
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BASEBALL
Even though time’s scoreboard still has Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day to get through prior to the college baseball season, the NAIA already has taken its preseason poll.
And, all things considered, the Eagles landed in a spot of opportunity.
Despite coming up short last year of advancing to the NAIA national tourney — for one of the rare times the past 10 seasons — the Eagles were voted to the No. 17 spot in this week’s NAIA baseball poll.
They came out of last season unranked after they finished at 38-19.
In fact, they are the only not ranked team from the 2022 spring season to appear on the 2023 preseason Top 25.
They also are the only KCAC team to be ranked, although McPherson (Kan.) missed the No. 25 spot by just five votes.
Kirk Kelley is entering his fifth year as Eagles’ head coach since his return in 2019. In 2021, he guided the team to the NAIA World Series — for the top 10 teams in the nation.
Kelley also coached the Eagles from 2010 to 2011; OKWU won the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association national title in 2011.
The NAIA baseball season generally begins in late January or early February.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The Lady Eagles finished off their season-opening weekend homestand with a 2 p.m. game Saturday against Evangel (Mo.) at the OKWU Classic.
The Lady Eagles are led by new head coach Heidi Messer.
OKWU has hung around the .500 mark during the past few seasons and is looking to break that pattern in a positive way.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: OKWU fall sports eye postseason; winter sports rev up
