Note: One of a series of stories that will take a look back at some of the many titles won by Oklahoma Christian teams and individuals through the decades. Today's story is about the 1982 men's basketball team that won the NAIA District 9 title.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 1, 2020) – When Oklahoma Christian's men's basketball team won the 1968 NAIA District 9 title to advance to the national tournament in Kansas City, Mo., for the first time, it rightly was lauded as a seminal moment in the university's history.

But in an era when only one team per district made it to the national tournament, a second trip to KC proved elusive for the Eagles, until a star-laden squad finally broke through to win another district title in 1982.

Under coach Frank Davis, the Eagles impressively overcame penal qualification standards imposed upon non-Oklahoma Collegiate Conference schools – namely, having to post a winning percentage of .800 or higher – to make the District 9 playoffs three straight years, from 1967 to 1969.

OC beat Southwestern Oklahoma State in a single playoff game, then No. 1-ranked Northeastern State in a best-of-three series to win the 1968 title, but lost 60-58 in the opening game of the 1969 district tournament to Central State (now Central Oklahoma) at Capitol Hill High School.

Competing in perhaps the NAIA's toughest district, the Eagles didn't make it back to the district tournament until 1972, when they advanced to the final under coach Bill Villines but lost 89-85 to Northeastern. In coach Jerry Jobe's second season, the Eagles reached the semifinals in 1977, then again in 1978, 1979 and 1980. OC won 30, 28, 27 and 25 games, respectively, those four seasons, but always ran into postseason issues.

In 1980-81, the Eagles went 23-10 and fell in the first round of the district tournament. But the next season, OC had one of the best teams in the NAIA, led by two All-Americans – 6-foot-6 Norvell Brown and 6-foot-8 Ron Webb – and standout point guard Kelly Jobe. The Eagles cruised through the regular season, reeling off winning streaks of 14 and 17 games and posting a perfect 10-0 record in Sooner Athletic Conference play.

After a 73-70 win over visiting Oklahoma Baptist in the regular-season finale, the Eagles sported a 30-2 record and had risen to No. 2 in the national rankings, high enough to essentially guarantee a spot in the national tournament, as there was one at-large spot available to the highest-ranked team that didn't win its district.

But Jobe didn't want the Eagles to enter Kansas City through the backdoor, telling The Oklahoman's Kathy Perovich, "We want to go to the national tournament as the winner of our district."

That would take three wins in five days, all in the Eagles' Nest, as OC had earned the top seed (and thus homecourt advantage) in the district tournament. But the Eagles' run almost ended in the opening round.

Central State – a sub-.500 team – slowed the tempo and took the Eagles to the wire. OC committed 18 turnovers against the Bronchos' 2-3 zone defense and never led by more than six points in the second half. Central State was within 57-56 before Webb went to the free-throw line with 1:40 left, making his first attempt but missing the second. Fortuitously, Brown grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Aaron Hardaway, whose short jumper gave the Eagles a 60-56 lead.

Central State's Kevin Pierce scored with 1:18 left, pulling the Bronchos within two. After that, the teams traded turnovers, the latter by the Bronchos' Steve Austin with 16 seconds left. The Eagles were able to run out the clock after that.

"I can't explain it, I really can't," Jerry Jobe said after the game. "I really thought we were more ready to play. We've had great practices all week."

He made sure the Eagles were ready for their semifinal game against Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Rangers, coached by future OC coach Dan Hays, had beaten OC 95-81 on Jan. 8, but it was the Eagles who dominated in the postseason matchup.

OC jumped to a 24-7 lead in the first seven minutes, shot 62.3 percent from the field and outrebounded Northwestern 44-22. Brown went 13 of 20 from the field and scored 31 points for OC, while Webb had 17 and Kelly Jobe had 14. Jerry Jobe compared his team's intensity level to one of the OC program's most famous wins, a 90-76 triumph at NCAA Division I Memphis State in December 1979.

"I really don't think any team we've played against all year could have come back against us tonight," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen Norvell or Webb play with such intensity. I don't know if we can keep this up, but if we could play like that for six more it sure would be fun."

A rematch with second-seeded OBU loomed in the title game, OC's first since 1968. As in the regular-season finale, the score was close most of the way, but the Eagles led for the final 32 minutes, shooting 63 percent from the field en route to a 73-69 win. OBU was within 53-51 in the second half before the Eagles reeled off a 10-0 run and the Bison came no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Webb scored 19 points, Brown added 18 and senior reserve George Dotson had a perfect shooting game, going 3 of 3 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line for 12 points. After the game, Jerry Jobe was named as the District 9 coach of the year, although Brown – who led the district in scoring – only finished fourth in the district player-of-the-year balloting.

"Norvell felt he had something to prove in that game," his coach said, revealing he had told his players about the snub before the game. "Maybe the district coaches did us a favor. They probably insured us winning the district tournament."

OC entered the NAIA tournament at Kemper Arena in Kansas City with high hopes and a No. 2 seed, but lightly regarded Hampton Institute (Va.) pulled off the upset, beating the Eagles 65-64 in the opening round. OC led by eight points midway through the second half and 64-61 with 53 seconds left after two baskets by Kelly Jobe, but Hampton's Al Godwin hit an 18-foot jumper with 42 seconds left.

In an era before the shot clock, the Eagles turned to the delay game, forcing Hampton to foul twice. Then Tony Washington stole the ball from the Eagles, which set up a 16-foot jumper by freshman Larry Garrick that gave Hampton the lead with :04 left. The basket accounted for Garrick's only points of the game.

Still, OC had a chance. After Garrick's basket, the Eagles' Tim Salyer inbounded the ball to Kelly Jobe, who drove almost the length of the court and attempted an eight-foot bank shot as time expired. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the shot bounced off the front of the rim.

"We were playing to keep from getting beat and not to win," Jerry Jobe told The Oklahoman. "Of course, that's not unusual in the first round up here. This game was not illustrative of what our season has been. I think (Hampton is) to be complimented. They played a good game. I'm just sorry it had to end so quickly for us."

Jerry Jobe stepped down as OC's coach after the 1982-83 season and was replaced by Hays, who spent the next 33 seasons guiding the Eagles. Jobe was inducted into the OC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. Kelly Jobe remains OC's career assists leader with 1,259 (397 more than the No. 2 player on that list).

Brown set an OC single-game scoring record with 44 points vs. Rockmont (Colo.) on Dec. 10, 1981, a mark that stood until Feb. 6, 2016, when John Moon poured in 50 points in a win over Oklahoma Panhandle State.

Although OC made several NAIA tournament appearances as an at-large selection during the 1990s and 2000s, the Eagles didn't win another postseason tournament until 2012, when they took the Sooner Athletic Conference postseason title.