Phil Brewer (white jersey) battles a Thunder player.
TULSA, OK—The Tulsa Oilers began their 24th consecutive season as a professional franchise with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Wichita Thunder.
The Oilers battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the dying minutes of the third period, only to have an errant bounce off the end boards give the Thunder the opportunity to take the late lead and they exploited it.
It’s October in Tulsa and with the changing of the leaves, the cooler weather and the days getting shorter it’s time for Tulsa Oilers Hockey. Tonight at 7:30pm in the BOK Center the team will begin its 24th consecutive season of operations and their second season in the ECHL taking on the Wichita Thunder.
Change is the key word because this season will be very different indeed. A new coach, a full time NHL/AHL affiliation and a house cleaning has taken place in the Oilers organization. As a result, the usual buzz that surrounds the coming of the second year in the ECHL in Tulsa has a decidedly different vibe.
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 100-88 in their seventh annual exhibition game in Tulsa’s BOK Center on Tuesday night.
A sold out mothership saw a healthy Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook put on a shooting clinic against a depleted Mavericks squad that didn’t bother to send their marquee players like Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams and though the game was tied at the end of the first quarter and at the half, the Thunder took command in the third quarter and won one for the surrogate home team.
It’s October, and with the coming of the changing leaves and cooler weather also brings a chance of thunder to the beautiful BOK Center.
That is the annual visit of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder to Tulsa for their annual exhibition game, this year against the Dallas Mavericks. Tipoff is set for 7pm on Tuesday. The game with the Mavericks will be the seventh in a row for the Thunder, who have included Tulsa on their exhibition schedule every year that the BOK Center has been open.
Led by senior linebacker Eric Striker’s 13 tackles and cornerback Jordan Thomas’s two interceptions, the Oklahoma Sooners opened Big 12 Conference play with a convincing 44-24 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday in Norman.
When the final gun sounded, the OU defense had forced five West Virginia turnovers and recorded seven sacks of Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard, holding the high-powered West Virginia offense to 369 total yards.