Braves battle hard against Sooners 

By Brandon Barber
Sports Editor

NORMAN, Okla.– An outsized Braves squad lost to the no. 6 Oklahoma Sooners Nov. 12 by a score of 118-62 in Norman, Okla.

Mark Salazar had a team-high 18 points and tied for the team lead with two rebounds for the Braves. Salazar led all players in minutes with 32.

Photo by Brandon Barber Taj Gray slams home two of his 20 points above Mark Salazar (50) in the Braves-Sooners exhibition game, Nov. 12. Salazar led the Braves in scoring.

Jabarr Adams was the only other Brave to reach double-digits, with 14.

Oklahoma's Michael Neal led all scorers with 21 points, while Taj Gray chipped in with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Oklahoma used its size advantage to control the boards against a smaller Braves team. The Sooners pulled down 57 rebounds, 26 offensive, compared to 16 for the Braves.

"They really rebound the basketball; they attack the glass," head coach Jason Tinsley said.

Longar Longar recorded a double-double for the Sooners, posting 17 points and game-high 13 rebounds.

Adams said the effort the team put forth gives them a good chance to improve on their 3-25 record from last year.

"Things look good as long as we play like we did tonight. If we play like that every night, we give ourselves a chance to win," Adams said.

"The thing I was impressed with, with Pembroke, and I went in their locker room and just talked to them about that, was how hard their kids play," University of Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson said. "I thought their kids played harder than we did in the first four minutes of the game."

Sampson said he enjoyed giving the Braves the experience of big-time college athletics.

"I'm just excited for their guys. I used to be one of those guys and our coaches never did anything like this for us," Sampson said.

The team had the opportunity to watch the Sooners take on the Texas A&M Aggies in Big 12 conference football.

The team won't face anyone of Oklahoma’s caliber again this year, but the experience is sure to help them on the road to improvement.