EDMOND, Okla. - Oklahoma Christian men's basketball returns to the Payne Athletic Center for its conference home opener when it takes on Texas Permian Basin Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles will then host Angelo State less than 48 hours later Saturday, Dec. 14 at 3 p.m.

EAGLE OUTLOOK (3-4, 0-2 LSC)
Oklahoma Christian dropped a pair of road contests to Eastern New Mexico and No. 2 West Texas A&M to open conference play. Against ENMU, OC fell, 91-68 before losing to the Buffs, 83-64. The Eagles lost the second half to the Greyhounds by one while beating WTAMU over the final 20 minutes, 35-34. The combined first halves, however, went the way of the opposition, 94-52.

Against West Texas A&M, OC matched the Buffs with a 45.0 field-goal percentage, but lost the battle from beyond the arc, shooting just 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) from long range compared to 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) for WTAMU. With Oklahoma Christian also shooting just 3-of-20 (15.0 percent) against the Greyhounds, the Eagles are currently 11th in the conference with 6.3 triples made per game.

Despite its struggles from long range, Oklahoma Christian is third in the conference with a 48.9 field-goal percentage, yielding the LSC's sixth-most points per game with 78.0. With two teams averaging over 75 points per game coming to the Payne Athletic Center this weekend, the Eagles will need to shore up a defense allowing a league-most 80.6 points per game.

Oklahoma Christian comes into Thursday's game with an undefeated home record under its belt. However, OC is also facing a six-game losing streak against the Falcons while also suffering 10 straight to Saturday's opponent in Angelo State. Something will have to give this weekend as the Eagles aim for their first 5-4 start since the 2016-17 season.    

SCOUTING TEXAS PERMIAN BASIN (5-2, 2-1 LSC)
After splitting its first two games in the South Central Region Challenge, Texas Permian Basin has since won four of its last five games. The Falcons lost during their last time out on the floor against Texas A&M-Kingsville, 70-66, serving as UTPB's only conference loss of the season. Thursday will be Permian Basin's first road conference game of the 2024-25 campaign.

The Falcons are exactly middle of the pack in the LSC in team field-goal percentage (45.3 percent) while currently allowing the highest field-goal percentage in the league (47.1 percent). Permian Basin, after allowing each of its first three opponents to shoot greater than 47.0 percent from the floor, has since allowed such a shooting mark just once, contributing to the Falcons' victories in four of their last five contests.

SCOUTING ANGELO STATE (5-2, 2-1 LSC)
Angelo State comes into the second weekend of December riding a three-game winning streak, all of which have come on ASU's home floor. The Rams are 1-2 away from Stephens Arena and 1-1 in true road games. Just prior to its three-game winning streak, Angelo lost to OC's Thursday opponent, Permian Basin, by three in Odessa, Texas, 65-62.

The Rams boast the third-best scoring defense in the conference at 64.9 points per game, with each of their last three victims failing to score more than 66 points. Aiding in ASU's defensive effort is its slow pace in which it plays, having attempted the fewest amount of field-goals of any team in the LSC. Consequently, Angelo's opponents have attempted the second fewest field-goals in the league while having made the fewest.