LAREDO, Texas (Jan. 18, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian started well on Monday afternoon at Texas A&M International, jumping to a quick six-point lead in the first 4½ minutes of the basketball game.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that proved to be their high point. TAMIU outscored OC 38-13 to close the first half, built a 27-point lead and held off a late rally by the Eagles to win 81-68 at the Kinesiology and Convocation Center.

TAMIU (1-8, 1-6 Lone Star Conference) shot a season-best 52.9 percent while also posting a season high in scoring against OC (1-8, 1-8). Tre Thomas led four Dustdevils in double figures in scoring with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Matija Novkovic added 16 points.

Freshman Elijah Elliott led OC with 17 points, while Anthony Johnson scored 14 and Marco Foster added 12. But 10 first-half turnovers helped put the Eagles in a deep hole and they shot just 47.2 percent from the field and 61.9 percent (13 of 21) from the free-throw line.

Three-pointers by D.J. Walter and Foster staked OC to an 8-2 lead and the Eagles still were up 11-9 after a 3-pointer by Shem'mario Stephens with 11:28 left in the first half. A basket by Walter forged a 13-13 tie at the 9:10 mark. Then Darian Gibson hit a 3-pointer for the Dustdevils and they never looked back.

TAMIU led by as many as 21 points in the first half and was up 40-21 at halftime. The Dustdevils' lead peaked at 63-36 with 10:10 left before the Eagles began chipping away. OC cut that margin by more than half during the final 10 minutes thanks in good part to Johnson, who scored all of his points in the final 13 minutes.

OC outrebounded the Dustdevils 30-27, led by Donovan Reagan, who grabbed nine boards despite fouling out with 13:06 left.

The teams will play again at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.