OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 13, 2020) – Oklahoma Christian had Angelo State (Texas) right where the Eagles wanted Thursday night, but OC wasn't able to take advantage of its opportunities to win when they presented themselves.

The Rams, one of the Lone Star Conference's top basketball teams, made them pay, outrebounding OC 62-41, controlling the overtime period after an OC shot to win at the end of regulation missed and pulling away for a 71-61 decision in the Eagles' Nest.

OC (8-13, 7-10 LSC) missed an opportunity to put itself in stronger position in the race for a LSC postseason tournament bid. The Eagles fell into a tie for 10th with Eastern New Mexico, with ENMU holding the tiebreaker. OC and ENMU are a half-game ahead of St. Mary's (Texas), which slid past Arkansas-Fort Smith into 12th place with a 7-11 LSC mark, while UAFS is 6-11. The top 12 teams at the end of the regular season will make the tournament.

"It was a missed opportunity that we should have taken advantage of, and it would have been a better feeling after the game," OC coach Kendre Talley said. "They're a great team. There's a reason they're top-four in the conference. They're tough. That's what they did to us tonight – they out-toughed us."

Angelo State (16-5, 12-5) is tied for fourth in the LSC and the Rams never trailed against OC during the game's first 34 minutes, although the Eagles kept it close. OC, which went 6 of 16 from the free-throw line, took its first lead at 49-48 on a 3-pointer by Johnatan Reyes-Valdez with 5:07 left and the Eagles didn't trail again in regulation.

Aubrey Johnson scored 21 points for OC and his 14-foot jumper with 51 seconds left in regulation put the Eagles ahead 55-53. Andres Ibarguen hit 1 of 2 free throws with 36.2 seconds left to pull Angelo State within a point, and Reyes-Valdez split a pair from the line with 27.4 seconds left before Paul Williams hit a driving layup for the Rams with 11.8 seconds left to tie the game.

OC had the ball for the final shot of regulation, but as Reyes-Valdez started his drive, the ball hit his foot and caromed away. He was able to chase it down, but had to take a rushed, well-guarded 3-point attempt that missed as the buzzer sounded.

OC center Will Lienhard fouled out 12 seconds into overtime and the burly, 6-foot-5 Ibarguen suddenly came alive offensively, scoring eight of the Rams' 15 OT points as they pulled away. He scored with 2:18 left to put Angelo State up 64-58. Johnson's 3-pointer pulled OC within three points, but the Eagles didn't score again.

Another basket by Ibarguen and five free throws by Camron Reedus sealed the win for the Rams. Ibarguen had 14 points and 17 rebounds for Angelo State, while Williams scored 20 points, Reedus added 15 and Collin Turner had 13 and nine rebounds. Marcel Pettway added 10 rebounds for the Rams, who shot just 29.7 percent (22 of 74) from the field.

"They play as hard and as physical as the refs will let you," Talley said. "It was a physical game tonight and they did a really good job of crashing (the boards)."

Johnson and fellow senior Dedrian Parmer Jr. each scored 21 points for OC, but no other player scored more than four points. OC shot 37.5 percent (24 of 64) but just 25 percent (7 of 28) from 3-point range, along with its woes from the free-throw line.

OC will host the team tied with Angelo State for fourth in the Lone Star, Lubbock Christian (Texas) at 4 p.m. Saturday. OC and LCU are familiar foes, dating back to the mid-1990s when LCU joined OC in the NAIA's Sooner Athletic Conference.

"That's why I love this league, because there are no off nights," Talley said. "From top to bottom, everybody feels that way. You can't go looking to a game and say we're going to beat those guys. Every game is tough. That's why we play the sport. That's why we coach the sport, just to look forward to big games."

Kendre Talley discusses the game: https://youtu.be/4auG7CZ2cZU