SPEARFISH, S.D. - Oklahoma Christian men's basketball is in Spearfish, South Dakota, for the South-Central Regional Crossover, and they opened their season with a familiar foe, No. 17 Black Hills State, who they have taken on to open the season for three straight years.
 
First Half
Quinton Johnson II scored the Eagles' first seven points, giving them an early 7-3 advantage, before OC took a 9-8 into the first media timeout. BHSU briefly tied the game at 10-10 until back-to-back threes from Javon Grant and Shane Perales regained the lead, and the Eagles never looked back.
 
Johnson II had nine points and a team-high +/- of six in the first half to pace the Eagles offense. Jovan Savic pitched in six points and six boards, and Perales and Moun'Tae Edmundson each had five points, including a late three from Edmundson to give the Eagles a 34-28 halftime lead.
 
Second Half
OC picked up where it left off and then some in the second half, extending the lead to fifteen on a Bryce Kennedy layup at 50-35. Kennedy scored six points on 3-5 shooting in the second half as a part of five Eagles who added five or more points in the half.
 
A few minutes later, a Johnson II three ballooned the Eagles' lead to twenty points, a part of his team-high sixteen points on the night.
 
Kennedy and Edmundson closed the game for Oklahoma Christian to take down the No. 13/17 Yellow Jackets on their home court, opening the season with a statement win.
 
Thoughts from Head Coach Kendre Talley
I must give a lot of credit to our guys for their focus and my staff for the preparation. We knew that coming on the road playing a top-25 team on their floor would be tough, and that's what we prepared for. Black Hills is well-coached and has a ton of championship experience on their team.
 
Our guys were up for the challenge and came out relentless and competed every possession. All of our guys contributed and had great energy. Jovan put his stamp on our game tonight with a big double double. We will celebrate every win, but we know we have a dogfight tomorrow. But I couldn't be prouder of these guys and the way that we competed.
 
Notes

• Quinton Johnson II led the Eagles in his official debut, scoring 16 points to go along with 5 rebounds.
• Jovan Savic opened the season with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulled down 10 boards.
• Moun'Tae Edmundson had a team-high +/- of 17 to go with 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
• The Eagles shout 43% as a team from beyond the arc and won the rebounding battle 38-27.
• OC forced BHSU into 18 turnovers on 11 steals, converting those turnovers into 23 points.
• Speaking of turnovers, OC didn't, remarkably only turning the ball over 9 times.
• Oklahoma Christian also dominated points in the paint and second-chance points with totals of 28-16 and 19-5, respectively.
• Another sign of the dominant performance was possession of the lead, as OC held the lead for 38:10 of game time, and BHSU only led for 00:20.

Up Next
Oklahoma Christian will take on Metropolitan State University of Denver at 5 p.m. in another matchup with a familiar early-season opponent.