Box Score DALLAS (Feb. 25, 2017) – Oklahoma Christian never stopped fighting, but Dallas Baptist (Texas) never stopped scoring on Saturday afternoon in the Burg Center.

OC shot 55.8 percent from the field, but Dallas Baptist answered with 57.6-percent shooting, allowing the Patriots to hold on for a 97-86 win, giving them a share of the Heartland Conference's regular-season men's basketball title.

OC (8-18, 3-15 Heartland) closed its 2016-17 campaign – its first under coach Cory Cole – with yet another strong performance by one of the seminal players in the program's history. In his final collegiate game, 7-foot senior center John Moon poured in 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking one shot.

Moon finished his career with 1,881 points and moved past Pierce Caldwell of Incarnate Word (2006-10) into second place on the Heartland's career scoring list. Moon ended fifth on OC's career scoring list and also set the program's career record for blocked shots with 237. That's also the Heartland's career record in that category – 75 more than the No. 2 player on that list.

Moon's 73 blocks this season ranked as the second-highest single-season total in Heartland history, behind only former OC star Will Reinke, who had 82 during the 2012-13 season. Moon, who had 70 blocks as a junior, now ranks No. 2 and No. 3 on the league's single-season list.

He will lead the Heartland this season in both per-game rebounding (8.7) and blocks (2.8) while finishing second in scoring (17.6).

"John is a special young man and absolutely an all-time great here at OC," Cole said. "Being No. 2 on the Heartland scoring list is another cherry on top of his career."

Five Eagles scored in double figures against Dallas Baptist, with Elijah Strickland, Marcus Mathieu and Jordan Box each adding 12 points and Dorian Lopez adding 10. But the Patriots got a season-high 28 points from Myles Johnson along with 19 points and nine assists from Julian Miranda. Dallas Baptist also had only 11 turnovers, compared to 19 for the Eagles.

Senior guard Keilan Horton's bucket with 11:05 left in the first half capped a 9-0 OC run and gave the Eagles their only lead at 17-15. Dallas Baptist (19-9, 13-5) answered with a 15-2 run, taking a 30-19 lead on a three-point play by Amari Bryant with 7:39 left in the half. The Patriots led 50-39 at halftime.

Seven times in the second half, OC closed the gap to nine points, but each time, the Patriots responded. Dallas Baptist went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line in the final 2:30 to seal the win.

Horton scored eight points for OC, raising his career scoring total – which included two junior-college seasons at Santa Monica (Calif.) – to 1,012 points. Along with Horton and Moon, Zach Norris and Luis Lopez also played their final game for the Eagles. Each scored three points.

"I'm grateful and thankful to have coached this group of young men," Cole said. "We learned a lot about ourselves, about how to fight through storms. We didn't get our share of the breaks that led to on-court wins, but we did learn the lessons of competing and trusting. The foundation has been laid for OC basketball. I'm thankful for this team battling all season long."