OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 7, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian was cruising along late in the first half against Cameron on Thursday night, holding a five-point lead and looking to build on it. Then the Aggies hit OC with a haymaker and the Eagles never quite recovered.

Cameron seized control with an 11-0 run to end the half and never trailed after that, hanging on for an 88-84 win over OC in the Eagles' Nest.

Brock Schreiner scored 31 points for Cameron (1-6, 1-6 Lone Star Conference) and provided key baskets and free throws when the Aggies needed them to hold off OC (0-5, 0-5). OC had four players score in double figures, led by freshmen Marco Foster (27 points, four assists, four steals) and Elijah Elliott (23 points, three assists, four steals), but the Eagles had to play uphill for the final 20 minutes.

"I think that (Cameron) played harder than we did," OC coach Kendre Talley said. "I told them that I felt like we were a good enough team to win, but it was going to come down to who played the hardest and I think they outplayed us."

OC, down three key players due to injury and illness, leaned heavily on its starters, as they each played at least 30 minutes. Cameron held a 35-2 edge in bench points, which proved to be key for the Aggies.

OC led by as many as six points in the first half and was up 33-28 with 3:03 left in the first half after one of Foster's five 3-pointers, part of a 7-for-11 shooting performance. During Cameron's subsequent run, Schreiner hit two 3-pointers and Jalen Mangum added another to put the Aggies up 39-33 at halftime.

"We made a lot of defensive mistakes tonight," Talley said. "We played zone (defense). It was one of the best things that we did last year, but we've got guys who've never played it. Being shorthanded, being two or three guys down … these guys are playing a lot of minutes. That's part of it. We've got fatigue and made some mental mistakes."

The Eagles pulled within 48-47 after two free throws by Foster with 15:20 left, but the Aggies weathered that storm and eventually built their lead to 70-59 on a basket by Dalton Vinson with 7:17 left. An 11-5 spurt by OC pulled the Eagles within 75-70, but Andrew Nguyen answered with a 3-pointer for Cameron with 3:13 left.

OC twice closed the gap to four points in the final 1:07 and trailed only 86-83 after Foster's final 3-pointer, with 18.9 seconds left. Marques Warrior split a pair of free throws for Cameron with 17.4 seconds left before both Foster and D.J. Walter missed a 3-point attempt.

Warrior fouled Foster on a put-back try with 4.1 seconds left. Foster made the first free throw and appeared to deliberately miss the second, but Cameron's Connor Slater grabbed the rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws at the other end to seal the win.

Walter scored 18 points for OC while Nyk Madison had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Nguyen (14 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting), Vinson (11 points) and Warrior (11 points) all scored in double figures for the Aggies, who will host OC on Saturday afternoon in Lawton.