AUSTIN, Texas (Jan. 2, 2020) – The top basketball teams in the Lone Star Conference are learning, or being reminded, that Oklahoma Christian will be a tough out.

For the second time in three games, Oklahoma Christian led a ranked LSC opponent at halftime and St. Edward's (Texas) needed a second-half run to hold off the Eagles 69-59 on Thursday night at the Recreation and Convocation Center in the second-semester opener for both basketball teams.

"St. Ed's is No. 7 in the nation for a reason," OC coach Kendre Talley said. "Our guys left it all on the floor tonight. We continue to make teams uncomfortable with our defense, but we have to continue to make progress in taking care of the ball. They made some tough shots in the beginning of the second half and got into a flow."

St. Edward's (11-1, 5-1 Lone Star Conference) entered ranked No. 13 in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association poll and No. 7 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, but the Hilltoppers' coach, Andre Cook, knew OC (3-7, 2-4) wouldn't be a pushover.

The Eagles stunned the then-No. 2-ranked Hilltoppers last season in Oklahoma City and won a double-overtime thriller over St. Edward's in the Heartland Conference Championship tournament semifinals in Tulsa, Okla., in 2018. Cook also no doubt watched video of OC's 81-65 loss on Dec. 19 at then-No. 10/7 West Texas A&M, in which the Eagles held a six-point halftime lead.

"Oklahoma Christian, last year we were No. 2 in the country, they beat us," Cook said. "Two years ago, we were playing them in the semifinals, they beat us in double overtime. Of all the teams we've played, they've kind of had our number the last few years. It's never easy."

Junior guard Johnatan Reyes-Valdez made sure that was the case, pouring in a career-high 23 points for OC on 8-of-13 shooting, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range to keep the Eagles within striking range, even after a 12-0 run by St. Edward's put the Hilltoppers in control. Reyes-Valdez's previous collegiate scoring high was nine points, when he played for Northern Colorado against Colorado College on Nov. 9, 2018.

OC defended last season's Heartland player of the year, Ashton Spears, well, limiting him to eight points, but the Hilltoppers picked up strong outings from their other four starters.

Corey Shervill, who had hit 18 3-pointers all season in 11 games, went 6 of 7 from behind the arc en route to a 24-point performance. Former OC player Dorian Lopez added 16 points and six rebounds, while Jake Krafka had 11 points and 10 rebounds and point guard August Haas matched his career high with 13 assists.

OC played lockdown defense in the first half, limiting the Hilltoppers to 32.3-percent shooting. The Eagles led 28-23 after a 3-pointer by Reyes-Valdez with 1:54 left in the half before settling for a 28-26 halftime lead.

The Eagles' final lead came at 30-29 after a basket 29 seconds into the second half by Aubrey Johnson, who scored 10 points. Shervill had two 3-pointers and 10 points in the Hilltoppers' subsequent run that put them ahead 41-30 with 15:35 left.

St. Edward's stretched its lead to 54-39 with 10:12 left on another 3-pointer by Shervill, but the Eagles didn't go away. Two free throws by Dedrian Parmer Jr. (who also scored 10 points) with 7:35 left pulled OC within 57-50, but the Eagles came no closer than that down the stretch.

The 69 points were the second-fewest scored this season by St. Edward's. The Hilltoppers made more 3-point shots (13) than 2-point shots (12).

"The main thing to take from this game is that our guys showed resilience, character and toughness," Talley said. "We will continue to get better and look to end this road trip well."

The Eagles will head further south down Interstate 35 to San Antonio, where they will face St. Mary's (Texas) on Saturday at 4 p.m.