OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 29, 2018) – With 47 fouls and 39 turnovers, there wasn't much flow to Oklahoma Christian's basketball game with Eastern New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. But there was another dominant performance on the boards, which proved vital for the Eagles.

OC outrebounded the Greyhounds 47-26 – allowing them only six offensive boards – which proved pivotal as the Eagles ground out a 72-62 win in the Eagles' Nest in OC's final nonconference game of the regular season.

For OC (5-7), the frontline foursome of Roderick Smith, Will Lienhard, York Benjamin and Braden Eggleston combined for 30 points and 25 rebounds, and Smith and Lienhard came up with big baskets in the final minutes as OC pulled away late. The Eagles held Eastern New Mexico (5-5) – a future Lone Star Conference foe for OC – to just nine points in the final 10 minutes.

"We knew it was going to be a grimy, sloppy game, kind of a test of wills," OC coach Cory Cole said. "Our guys played for 40 minutes. It was a huge win for us to close out nonconference play.

"We had all four (frontline) guys contribute. Eastern New Mexico does a good job of crashing the boards, but we were physical. We used technique. We went and got boards and that was the difference in the ball game."

OC used an early 11-0 run to build a 16-8 lead, but Eastern New Mexico hit 18 of 22 free throws in the first half and led 33-28 with 5:44 left in the half. The Eagles closed on a 10-1 run and led 38-34 at the break.

The Greyhounds led 53-52 after Isaiah Murphy came up with a steal and dunked with 10:25 left. Benjamin tied the game 35 seconds later with a free throw and Smith scored from underneath at the 8:09 mark to put OC ahead 55-53. Another basket by Smith with 6:07 left made it 57-54 and Lienhard banked in a shot at the 5:18 mark to extend OC's lead to five points.

Jordan Box hit a 3-pointer with 4:12 left (with one second remaining on the shot clock) and Brian Carey's driving layup gave OC a 64-56 lead with 3:35 left. The Eagles went 8 of 12 from the free-throw line in the final 1:39 – including 5 of 6 by Smith – to seal the win.

"It was good to see different guys step up and have a big moment," Cole said. "I'm just proud of our composure, of guys trusting each other, staying with the game plan and executing. It was a great team win."

OC won despite committing 22 turnovers and committing 23 fouls. Marcus Blackwell led the Eagles with 16 points, while Box, Carey and Smith each had 13 points. Smith had eight rebounds, as did NCAA Division II's leader in that category, Will Lienhard. Lienhard added three blocked shots and two steals.

Darius Sawyer led Eastern New Mexico with 15 points, while Nick Brown added 12 and Murphy had 10. The Greyhounds shot just 32.7 percent (17 of 52) from the field.

OC will return to action on Jan. 9 in a Heartland Conference game at Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Cory Cole discusses the game: https://youtu.be/T5Aezyf7w_o