DALLAS (March 3, 2020) – With its funky zone defense, Oklahoma Christian was an opponent no one wanted to face in the Lone Star Conference men's basketball tournament, and sure enough, the Eagles gave sixth-seeded Dallas Baptist (Texas) fits on Tuesday night.

OC – one of the leaders in NCAA Division II in scoring defense – limited DBU's high-powered offense to just 69 points in 45 minutes. But the Eagles missed two opportunities to win the game in the final seconds, allowing DBU to escape the Burg Center with a 69-67 overtime win in a first-round LSC tournament game.

DBU (21-8) advanced to face third-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday at the Comerica Center in nearby Frisco, while No. 11 seed OC (10-17) – which beat the Patriots by 19 points in Oklahoma City in January – had its season end without a conference tournament win for the first time since 2017.

The Patriots now have ended OC's season each of the past three years in a league tournament, but Tuesday's game was by far the closest of that trio of contests, with 21 lead changes and eight ties and momentum swings both ways. Neither team led by more than eight points the entire game.

"It was close throughout the whole game," OC coach Kendre Talley said. "Our guys fought. We executed our game plan well. We did what we do. We played really good defense – with overtime and everything, they didn't touch 70 points. That's what kept us in the game. We left it all on the floor and I'm proud of the guys and how they fought."

With the score tied 63-63 in the final seconds of regulation, OC held the ball for what looked to be a final shot, but a pass from Johnatan Reyes-Valdez, intended for senior center Will Lienhard under the basket, instead went out of bounds with :05 left. Fortunately for the Eagles, DBU's Julian Miranda lost the ball as time expired, allowing the game to go into overtime.

Both teams struggled on offense in the extra period, with each making only two shots. OC's two baskets came from senior guard Aubrey Johnson, the second off an offensive rebound that gave the Eagles a 67-66 lead with 1:48 left. Tylan Dean answered with a 3-pointer for the Patriots with 1:22 left, putting his team ahead 69-67.

OC's Marcus Blackwell missed a tough 3-point attempt with 45 seconds left before DBU turned the ball over on a shot-clock violation with 14.7 seconds left. Reyes-Valdez brought the ball upcourt and began to drive the lane, but reversed direction and quickly found himself in no-man's land, deep on the right wing while being harassed by two defenders. He was forced to heave an off-balance 3-point attempt that wasn't close as time expired.

DBU led 33-29 at halftime, shooting nine free throws to zero for the Eagles in the first half. But behind Dedrian Parmer Jr., OC seized control early in the second half. The senior forward from Oklahoma City scored his team's first 19 points of the half and when Johnson followed that with a 3-pointer, OC led 51-45 with 11:40 left.

Parmer Jr. "got comfortable that second half," Talley said. "They threw some stuff at us in the first half, but when he got comfortable, we just started feeding him and he went to work. That's what he's been doing for us all year. I'm proud of the way he went out."

Jonathyn Washington kept the Patriots close, hitting 10 of 14 shots, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range and scoring 24 points. But even with his hot hand, OC looked to be in control after D.J. Walter's second 3-pointer of the half put the Eagles up 59-51 with 7:38 left.

OC managed only two baskets for the rest of regulation, though, and the Patriots rallied to go up 63-61 on a 3-pointer by Dean with 3:11 left. Lienhard answered with 2:35 left and the teams went scoreless after that, until overtime.

Parmer Jr. finished his lone season with the Eagles in stellar fashion, with 21 points (on 8-of-12 shooting) and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double. Johnson (13 points) and Reyes-Valdez (12 points) also scored in double figures, while Lienhard capped his brilliant career with another double-digit rebounding effort, grabbing 10 to go with six points.

Chandler Jacobs scored 15 points and Dean added 11 for the Patriots.

Kendre Talley discusses the game: https://youtu.be/NCrQwJ5Tqaw