Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 25, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian coach Dan Hays gave his team a simple strategy for the Eagles' game against St. Edward's (Texas) – get the ball inside to John Moon.

After a slow start, Moon started rolling, and so did OC, all the way to a dominant 97-90 win over a solid St. Edward's squad on Thursday night in the Eagles' Nest. The Eagles shot a sizzling 64.8 percent, their second-best effort of the season, behind only their school-record 70.8-percent performance against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Feb. 6.

Moon poured in 41 points – his second-best scoring game ever – while setting one Heartland Conference record and tying another. Hays, meanwhile, earned career win No. 724, moving him into 42nd place on the all-time coaching wins list, tied with legendary former DePaul coach Ray Meyer.

OC (7-20, 4-15 Heartland) kept alive its hopes of squeezing into next week's conference tournament in Tulsa. OC trails St. Mary's (Texas) by a game for the final spot, so the Eagles would need a win over visiting Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday, a loss by St. Mary's at last-place Oklahoma Panhandle State and for some good fortune in a tiebreaker scenario.

"It was a good win for us," Hays said. "We're not a bad basketball team. We're way better than our record, but we just dug ourselves such a hole this year and never could get a rhythm. Now we're playing some good basketball. It's probably just a little bit too late."

Moon's 41 points were just three shy of OC's former school record of 44 points, which Moon shattered with a conference-and school-record 50-point outing against Panhandle State on Feb. 6. It tied the eighth-highest scoring game in Heartland history. He's now the only player in league history with two games of 40 points or more.

With 641 points this season, Moon now has the second-highest single-season total in Heartland history, trailing only Chris Mortellaro of Drury (Mo.), who scored 693 points in the 2003-04 season. Moon went 15-of-23 from the field against St. Edward's, the eighth-best single-game field-goal total in league history. (His 20-of-20 shooting outing against Panhandle State tops that list.)

Moon has 247 field goals this season, breaking the Heartland single-season mark of 239, set by Kevin Kotzur of St. Mary's during the 2012-13 season. With his two blocked shots against the Hilltoppers, Moon increased his career total to 162, tying former St. Edward's standout Harley Nussman (2012-15) atop the Heartland career list in that category. Moon now has recorded at least one block in 52 straight games.

Moon also increased his career scoring total to 1,395 points, good for eighth place on the Heartland chart, with a season and at least one game remaining.

Twenty-eight of his points against the Hilltoppers came in the second half.

"In the first half, (Moon) was passing the ball out of the post very well and we were making some plays," Hays said. "He really wasn't scoring a great deal, but I said, 'Let's just keep going, because I think they'll lose track of him,' and they did. He was able to score a lot late. It was a good job by our team of passing the ball, especially from the top."

But Moon wasn't the only star for the Eagles against St. Edward's (17-10, 10-9). Elijah Strickland scored 19 points, going 7-of-9 from the field and hitting all three of his 3-point attempts, and adding six assists. Jordan Rutherford added 10 points and nine rebounds and played a key role in OC's whopping 43-29 rebounding advantage over the Hilltoppers. Chiza Ntirata added seven points and eight rebounds, while Moon had nine boards and four assists.

A 15-0 run late in the first half gave the Eagles control of the game, with a free throw by Ntirata putting OC up 37-26 at the 2:50 mark of the half. OC led 40-34 at halftime.

The Eagles spend the second half building on that advantage, then holding off the Hilltoppers' attempts to rally late. A 3-pointer by Strickland gave OC a 70-55 lead with 9:59 left and two free throws by Zach Norris made it 79-63 with 7:28 left, as the Eagles routinely broke full-court pressure administered by St. Edward's.

The Hilltoppers didn't close within single digits until a 3-pointer by Ethan Gilbert pulled them within 93-84 with 1:08 left. A basket with 55.9 seconds left by Quinton Lilley cut the gap to seven points, but Moon broke free for a dunk with 49.7 seconds left.

John Gramlich went 4-of-5 from 3-point range and led the Hilltoppers with 19 points, while Ramir Burton had 17, Gilbert 16, Lilley 14 and Sean Watkins 10.

Dan Hays on the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6lykSXIdcM&feature=youtu.be