LAREDO, Texas - In his return to Laredo, former Dustdevil Elijah Bailey poured in a team-high 17 points as Oklahoma Christian opened the new year with a 67-58 victory against Texas A&M International.

Bailey, who also picked up three rebounds, three assists and three steals, led three double-digit scorers for the Eagles, followed by Carson Jones with 13 and Miles Gibson with 11. Anthony Ignowski, who was also making his return to his former team, logged nine points and grabbed two steals.

As an offense, OC shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) from the floor, including 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from inside the perimeter, while tying its season-high with 23 made free-throws on only 29 attempts for a season-best 79.3 percent on at least 25 attempts.

Play stood tied at 10-10 at the first media timeout before the Eagles built a double-digit lead with just over 90 seconds to go until halftime. A 10-1 Dustdevil run that boiled over into the second half had International close the gap to one, 36-35, before a 6-0 run from Ignowski and Gibson put the Eagles back up by seven.

With 10:43 on the clock, Oklahoma Christian utilized free-throw shooting and lockdown defense to seize its second double-digit lead of the evening, holding TAMIU without a field-goal for over four minutes of game time, using a 15-point lead with 6:43 left in regulation to help sustain the visiting maroon-and-gray the rest of the way.

Oklahoma Christian (7-4, 2-3 LSC) will remain in south Texas as it looks to extend its winning streak to four games when it meets Texas A&M-Kingsville Sunday, Jan. 4 at 3 p.m.