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Oklahoma Christian nearly overcame a 24-point halftime deficit before losing 83-69 at Wayland Baptist Saturday.

Wayland made 6-of-12 three-pointers in the first half and led 48-24 at the break, but the Eagles scored 16 of the first 18 points in the second half to slice the deficit to 10 points.

Wayland led 56-46 with 9:00 left when the Eagles started another charge. OC's Charles Baldwin converted two traditional three-point plays and hit a long-distance three as OC cut the lead to 62-58.

After a Michal Polanowski free throw, Keith Harris made two foul shots to make it 63-61. But that was as close as the Eagles came.

The Pioneers twice pushed the advantage back to seven points, then Lee Berend's three-pointer with 1:30 remaining put Wayland up 76-66 and put the game away.

Kendall Webb led all scorers with 29 points, hitting 14 free throws in a foul-filled second half. Baldwin scored 25 points for the Eagles, with all of them coming in the second half.

The Pioneers (6-12, 12-16) needed a win to keep their hopes alive for a berth in the Sooner Athletic Conference postseason tournament. They qualified as the eighth and final seed with USAO's loss at Oklahoma Baptist Saturday night.

The Eagles fell to 8-10 in SAC play and 14-14 overall. OC will be the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament and play 3-seed OBU in Friday's first round. The Eagles need a win to avoid their first losing season since they finished 12-19 in 2000-01.