Box Score TULSA, Okla. (March 4, 2018) – On the opening play of the Heartland Conference Championship tournament title game, Dallas Baptist (Texas) guard Carter Brown knocked down Oklahoma Christian's Elijah Strickland, gathered the loose basketball and drove for an easy layup.

With their preferred physical, rough-and-tumble tone set, top-seeded Dallas Baptist quickly built an early lead and never let seventh-seeded OC get back in the game while cruising to a 77-57 over the Eagles on Sunday afternoon at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

OC (12-18) saw its dramatic run through the Heartland postseason tournament end one step shy of its goal of qualifying for the NCAA Division II tournament. Instead, No. 22-ranked Dallas Baptist (26-5) took the Heartland's automatic bid.

Even through the disappointment, OC coach Cory Cole saw the silver lining – his squad, which was picked last in the Heartland's preseason poll, won its first two postseason games at the Division II level and set a standard for which the Eagles can strive in future years.

"What a ride! OC basketball started from the back (of the conference) and we finished here, with a chance to play for a championship and the NCAA tournament," Cole said. "I love my staff. I love these guys and their commitment and their buy-in from day one. It shows because we had a chance today to play for one of our goals this season. It's extremely humbling and motivation for next season."

Although Cole refused to say it made a difference, it was obvious that the Eagles were a tired bunch of players, having played two complete games in a 24-hour span due to the Heartland tournament's compressed schedule.

After a grueling overtime semifinal win over St. Edward's (Texas) that didn't end until after 7 p.m. Saturday, the Eagles had to bounce back for a noon tipoff Sunday, while Dallas Baptist had an extra five hours of rest after its afternoon semifinal win. The fatigue was evident as the Eagles left many of shots short and shot a season-low 32.2 percent from the field, including 20.8 percent (5 of 24) from 3-point range.

"That's basketball," Cole said. "I'm never going to make an excuse, because those are all the shots that I'll take any time. We give our best guys the most shots and the ball didn't go our way on the offensive end, but I loved our fight. I loved our guys were here. Our guys were aggressive and attacking and we just didn't get enough breaks. That's something we'll learn from."

Compounding the problem for OC was that the Patriots shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half, including a sizzling 66.7 percent from 3-point range (6 of 9). They outrebounded OC 47-36 for the game, led by 11 boards by burly Zach Lord.

Dallas Baptist led 18-4 a little more than seven minutes into the game, by which time Cole already had called two timeouts. The Patriots kept pushing and led by as many as 20 in the first half before settling for a 43-27 halftime lead.

OC twice cut its deficit to 13 points early in the half, but the Patriots ended all doubt with a 14-3 run that put them up 59-35 with 10:57 left. Dallas Baptist's lead peaked at 25 points.

Strickland scored 13 points, moving up a spot to No. 24 on OC's career scoring list with 1,409 points. He joined teammate Jordan Box on the all-tournament team.

"It has been pretty amazing," Strickland said. "Just from my freshman year to my senior year, it's been a big jump for us and this program. I couldn't ask for a better program or a better coaching staff or better teammates. … I just try to leave my heart here and try to leave my fight here. That's all I've been taught to do."

Junior guard Charles Shaw also scored 13 points for OC. Dallas Baptist's leading scorer was Jordan Manse with 12 points, and three Patriots – Boy Van Vliet, Carter Brown and Chandler Jacobs – each had 11 points.

Dallas Baptist coach Blake Flickner congratulated the Eagles during his postgame press conference.

"They had a phenomenal year and a great run in the conference tournament," Flickner said. "I really respect their coach and their players and think they had a phenomenal season. … I am proud of the way (my players) defended today. To hold Elijah Strickland and Jordan Box to inefficient games, and to hold their team to an inefficient stat line, and to keep them off the glass, I thought our guys did a great job."

Joining Strickland and Box on the all-tournament team were Landon Goesling of St. Edward's and Van Vliet and Jacobs of Dallas Baptist. The Patriots' Patrick Burke received most valuable player honors.

OC postgame press conference: https://youtu.be/KLDWwOJzOl4

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/G8IFC3E3V9Y