OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 26, 2021) – Like most young basketball teams, it's taken Oklahoma Christian awhile to develop as a cohesive unit, and as this disjointed pandemic season nears its end, the Eagles are showing plenty of promise for what awaits in the 2021-22 campaign.

For a second straight game, OC had balanced scoring and mostly controlled the action against a Lone Star Conference opponent, beating St. Mary's (Texas) 79-68 on Friday in the Eagles' Nest in the penultimate contest of the season.

Four Eagles scored in double figures, with freshman guard Elijah Elliott leading the way with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while senior guard Anthony Johnson posted his first career double-double with 15 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and six assists.

Freshman forward Nyk Madison added 15 points and seven rebounds and freshman guard Marco Foster knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 12 points. Junior D.J. Walter just missed a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.

OC (6-11, 6-11 LSC) is playing its best basketball and with almost every player (including Johnson) planning on returning next season, coach Kendre Talley believes the present is an indication the future for the Eagles is bright. The Eagles have gone 5-3 over their last eight games after starting the campaign with a 1-8 record.

"It's been a rough year and this last week was our first time having a full team in a long time that was able to practice a little bit," Talley said. "It's just maturity. These guys are maturing and growing and aren't freshmen any more. They've been playing like upperclassmen and doing a good job. I'm proud of the way they're sticking together through all this adversity and finding some light in this dark year."

St. Mary's (3-9, 3-8) led 17-15 after a basket by Emmanuel Ewuzie with 11:49 left in the first half, but the Eagles seized control with a 17-4 run that include 3-pointers by Johnson, Foster, Elliott, Johnson again, Elliott again and Walter. Walter's trey put OC up 35-21 and the Rattlers never really recovered.

OC led 38-27 at halftime. St. Mary's cut the margin to 44-41 with 15:39 left on a basket by Mamady Djikine, who had 18 points and eight rebounds, but Madison started a 12-2 spurt by OC with a three-point play. Madison accounted for nine of those points.

The Eagles led by double digits for the final 10 minutes, with their lead peaking at 17 points. OC outrebounded the taller Rattlers by a 51-42 count.

"They're a lot bigger than we are, so I challenged Anthony, Elijah and Marco to get rebounds today and they did a good job of responding to that," Talley said. "I'm proud of the way fought from the inside to try and limit these dudes to one shot."

OC and the Rattlers will play their regular-season final on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.