Box score

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Nov. 10, 2008) – Oklahoma Christian beat Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (Okla.) 91-46 on Monday. The victory is the 600th college win of OC head coach Dan Hays' career.

OC rode a 58-22 halftime lead to the easy victory to improve to 5-0 all time against Hillsdale Baptist.

The Eagles two-headed monster of Jason Taylor and Kyle Tefft led the way with 20 points apiece. Tefft also recorded eight steals – seven coming in the first half – to break his own school record for steals in a single game.

The win improves OC to 3-0 in 2008-09. The Eagles play at Langston (Okla.) tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.

Hays is now 529-288 in his 26th season at Oklahoma Christian University after going 71-68 from 1978 to 1983 at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

He has the most collegiate wins at the NAIA or NCAA level of any active coach in Oklahoma, and ranks third all-time in the state behind Bloomer Sullivan (662-222 at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 1937-67) and Henry Iba (652-317 at Oklahoma State University, 1934-70).

At Northwestern Oklahoma State, he led the Rangers to the NAIA District Nine Semifinals in the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. His 1980-81 team won the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Championship and he received OIC Coach of the Year honors in both 1981 and 1983.

Hays has made Oklahoma Christian a mainstay among the top programs in NAIA basketball since coming to Oklahoma Christian for the 1983-84 season. OC owns six Sooner Athletic Conference championships under Hays and has qualified for six NAIA National Tournaments. He has taken five teams to the Sweet 16 of the national tournament and earned SAC Coach of the Year honors five times.

Twenty-two Eagles have earned NAIA All-America honors under Hays' tutelage. Two players – Jay Mauck (1998-99) and Jarred Merrill (2004-05) – have earned NAIA National Player of the Year. His coaching career also includes multiple stints as an assistant with USA Basketball in various international competitions.

Off the court, Hays has seen more than 90 percent of the seniors in his program complete their degrees. Last year's squad had the third-highest cumulative GPA (3.35) of all men's basketball teams earning NAIA Scholar Team designation.

Hays was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1998 and became a member of the Oklahoma Christian Hall of Fame in 2001. He is also in the Eastern New Mexico University Athletic Hall of Fame.

A native of Albuquerque, N.M., the 62-year-old Hays played one season at Casper (Wyo.) Junior College before spending three seasons at Eastern New Mexico. Hays was All-America Honorable Mention for two years at ENMU and was twice named to the NAIA and NCAA All-District teams.

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