ADA, Okla. - Men's Basketball (1-2) returned to the state after a weekend in South Dakota for a Thursday night matchup against East Central in Ada (2-1).
 
First Half
Tyrus Baynham and Quinton Johnson II, who made his return to East Central, led the Eagles in the opening twenty--minutes. Bayham scored six of his seven first-half points by the midway point of the half, tying the game at 12-12 on a pair of free throws.
 
Johnson scored three of his five first-half points later in the half when he helped stall an ECU run, cutting an eight-point lead down to five at 29-24.
 
East Central got the lead and extended it into the break thanks to seven made threes in the half, stretching the lead to 35-26 at the break. However, one of the seven threes was controversial, as the Tigers got credit for a questionable shot at the buzzer. With .4 seconds left on the clock, the shooter caught the ball, set his feet, and got the three off.
 
At the Break

• The Eagles dominated points in the paint and second-chance points 14-8 and 5-0, respectively.
• Threes made up for that though, as OC went without one in the first half to ECU's seven.
• OC also won the turnover battle, only coughing it up five times while forcing six East Central Turnovers.
• Oklahoma Christian also earned ten foul shots compared to the Tigers' six.

Second Half
Led by Karlyn Kenner's thirteen second-half points, the Eagles put together a strong half, again winning the turnover and rebounding battle.
 
Five quick points from Kenner cut the lead down to two at 37-35, and OC continued to battle to close that gap after the first media timeout. And out of the under-16 media timeout, Moun'Tae Edmundson cut the once nine-point lead down to one with a layup.
 
ECU stretched the lead back out to six, but two free throws from Javon Grant made it another one-possession game at 46-44 with 11:23 to play. Two Jovan Savic free throws, a part of his six points and six rebounds second-half, kept the Eagles within two before the Tigers took an eleven-point lead at 65-54 with 2:26 remaining.
 
Another Edmundson layup off a steal brought OC back within four at 65-61, but ECU was able to close out the game on a 5-0 run to win 70-61.
 
Notes

• Karlyn Kenner led the Eagles with 17 points on 5-8 shooting and added four rebounds.
• Tyrus Baynham also had an efficient game, scoring 11 points on 4-6 shooting, adding six rebounds and a steal to his stat line,
• Jovan Savic had another strong game, scoring 8 points and pulling down 8 boards.
• Moun'Tae led the Eagles in steals with 3 and chipped in 4 points and 4 rebounds.

Up Next
The Eagles will host their regular season home opener on Saturday when they host Randall at 3 p.m.