OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 7, 2019) – St. Edward's (Texas) had a No. 2 national ranking, a 14-game winning streak and a 16-point second-half lead on Thursday night, but Oklahoma Christian had Will Lienhard, Roderick Smith and Aubrey Johnson and they refused to go quietly.

With Lienhard and Smith gobbling up nearly as many rebounds as their opponent's entire team and Johnson lighting it up from behind the 3-point line, the Eagles closed the gap, took the lead in the final minutes and held on for an 84-80 win over the stunned Hilltoppers in the Eagles' Nest that no doubt will raise many eyebrows across the NCAA Division II men's basketball landscape.

OC (8-12, 3-6 Heartland Conference) scored the game's final five points, capped by two clinching free throws by Lienhard with 1.1 seconds left.

At No. 2 in both the Division II Sports Information Directors Association and National Association of Basketball Coaches polls, St. Edward's (20-2, 9-1) was the highest-ranked foe OC has beaten during the Eagles' NCAA Division II era, which began with the 2012-13 season. The Hilltoppers were ranked two spots higher than was undefeated Arkansas-Fort Smith when OC beat UAFS on Jan. 4, 2018.

The last time OC beat a team ranked higher than St. Edward's was in the title game of the 2012 Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, when the Eagles took down NAIA No. 1 Oklahoma Baptist.

"We've been close numerous times this season," OC coach Cory Cole said. "We've just kept fighting and trusting the process. Tonight it just clicked for us. I loved seeing the guys battle through the adversity, not stop believing, not stop trusting, and making plays. That's when this game is just fun. You go through the storm to come out on the other side. We can beat anyone on any given night. The same is true that we can lose to anyone on any given night.

"St. Edward's is such a well-coached team. They've got so many movable pieces. They play the right way. They've been dominant all season. They've played well on the road and at home. They're one of the best teams in the country for a reason. To have our best game of the season, I was extremely proud of our guys stepping up and taking that challenge."

Two keys to OC's win were the inside play of Lienhard and Smith and the outside shooting of Johnson. Lienhard, a 6-foot-8 senior from Oklahoma City who leads Division II in rebounding, had perhaps the finest game of his two seasons at OC, finishing with a career-high 15 points and recording a career-best 21 rebounds for the third time this season. He also blocked three shots.

Smith, a 6-foot-5 senior from Houston, had 17 points and 12 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end that kept the Eagles afloat in the first half. It was Smith's sixth double-double of the season and the fifth for Lienhard.

Smith and Lienhard combined for 33 of OC's 46 rebounds, while the Hilltoppers had 35 boards.

"I love those two guys," Cole said. "They're the heartbeat of this team, our seniors that came out and really carried a huge load for us. The first half was Rod, just getting in there and making hustle plays and getting offensive boards and put-backs. It became contagious at halftime and Will kind of took the mantle in the second half and just played tough interior defense, but also provided that offensive spark he's capable of."

OC led for long stretches of the first half, but four 3-pointers in the final 5:02 of the half – two by Luke Pluymen – helped St. Edward's build a 45-34 lead at halftime. That lead ballooned to 52-36 on a 3-pointer by Ashton Spears – the Heartland's leading scorer, who led the Hilltoppers with 18 points – with 17:38 left.

From that point, the Eagles started chipping away, and Johnson, a junior guard from Mustang, was a big reason why. His first of four 3-pointers in the second half hit the rim and backboard before dropping in with 12:07 left to pull OC within single digits at 60-51. His second again got the Eagles within nine at 70-61 with 8:13 left.

He hit two more 3-pointers during a 10-0 run that cut the St. Edward's lead to 73-71 with 5:18 left.

"He's a microwave," Cole said of Johnson, who missed three days of practice this week due to the flu. "When he gets one, it goes in bunches. We were encouraging him to shoot because he hadn't shot the ball very many times. We didn't know if he was hot or not. … Once he gets rolling, we're hard to guard. It was good to see Aubrey be clutch in the second half."

A steal and layup by Jordan Box with 2:19 left put OC back ahead at 79-78. August Haas, who had eight points and eight assists, answered with a 14-foot jumper for the Hilltoppers with 1:40 left, but that proved to be it offensively for St. Edward's.

Lienhard scored on a tough move underneath the basket with 1:26 left, giving OC an 81-80 advantage, and Lucas Doria missed two free throws for St. Edward's with 56.1 seconds left. Box turned the basketball over, but Haas missed a shot and Johnson rebounded. Johnson, who scored a team-high 21 points, split a pair of free throws with 14.1 seconds left, making it 82-80.

Haas slipped while driving toward the basket and lost the ball out of bounds with 7.6 seconds left, but the Eagles turned the ball right back over on the ensuing inbounds play. Given a final chance, Spears drove toward the basket and collided with a stationary D.J. Walter, but Walter was called for a blocking foul with 1.4 seconds left.

After missing the first free throw, Spears deliberately missed the second, but Lienhard rebounded and made both free throws to seal the win for the Eagles.

Box added 14 points and four assists for OC, which shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59) from the field. Pluymen scored 11 for St. Edward's, while Dorian Lopez, Corey Shervill and Ryan Garza had 10 each. The Hilltoppers went 12 of 29 (41.4 percent) from 3-point range but just 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from the free-throw line.

OC will visit in-state rival Rogers State on Saturday.

Cory Cole discusses the game: https://youtu.be/-gLXxP_zKec

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/uS0knvzERSU