AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's men's basketball team had three opportunities in the final 20 seconds but couldn't convert, turning the ball over and missing a 3-pointer in an 85-80 loss to the Oklahoma Christian Eagles.
 
BLAKE NIELSEN led five St. Edward's players in double figures with 15 points on nine shots to go with five assists. 
 
St. Edward's opened the game on fire, reeling off an 11-2 run in the first three minutes. The Hilltoppers hit their first three shots from the field, including 3-pointers from GAVINO RAMOS and SEAN ELKINTON. A third 3-point attempt resulted in three free throws for BENNETT MOHN, who also had an early layup off a feed from JEFF GARY. 
 
Oklahoma Christian regained its footing with an 11-5 run, getting 3-pointers from Hunter Staten and Karlyn Kenner to close the gap to 16-13 with 14:16 remaining. 
 
The lead changed hands three times over the remainder of the first half with three ties. Staten and Kenner had identical nine-point performances in the first half, each hitting 3-for-4 with a 3-pointer. Quinton Johnson II also had nine points on 4-for-9 shooting. 
 
BLAKE NIELSEN led the Hilltoppers with nine points in the half on 3-for-4 shooting, continuing his efficient play from the previous game against Dallas Baptist. The junior point forward showed his touch on a pair of off-balance floaters and got in transition for a dunk on a feed from Ramos. 
 
The bench sparked St. Edward's with an 11-8 advantage over its Oklahoma Christian counterparts. ALEU ALEU brought the crowd to its feed with a thunderous alley-opp from Ramos. JAYDEN JOHNSTON hit a 3-pointer and showcased his post-up game with a textbook drop-step for a hook shot, and JAMISON KAY gritted his way into a pair of buckets, with the second one tying the game at 36 for the half. 
 
St. Edward's gained some separation in the second half on a 13-6 run sparked by a SEAN ELKINTON 3-pointer. The Hilltoppers went 4-for-4, with Gary draining a 3-pointer, Nielsen scoring a layup, and Johnston capping it off with a 3-point play on a layup and foul. 
 
The Hilltoppers got great production from their bench once more, pushing the lead into double digits with eight points from Aleu and combined five from Johnston and Kay to the 71-61 lead with seven minutes remaining. 
 
Oklahoma Christian found its footing again with a solid defensive effort, holding St. Edward's to 2-for-6 shooting over the next four minutes as part of a 16-5 run to retake the lead. Moun'tae Edmundson led the charge with five points, Javon Grant and Nickolas Traylor scored four each, and Quinton Johnson had two over five minutes to go up 77-76. 
 
The lead changed several times in the final minutes, with St. Edward's taking its final advantage at 80-79 on a driving layup from Nielsen with 1:17 remaining. Oklahoma Christian nearly made a costly mistake, overthrowing an entry pass out of the timeout to give the Hilltoppers the ball with a minute left. 
 
Traylor made the clutch play for Oklahoma Christian on the ensuing defensive possession, blowing up a Nielsen and Elkinton pick-and-roll, coming up with the steal and fastbreak layup the other way. 
 
Elkinton missed an open jumper with 20 seconds remaining, but Oklahoma Christian hit only two of its subsequent four free-throw attempts. The Hilltoppers turned the ball over on an inbound pass on their next possession, then Ramos missed a 3-pointer to tie the game on St. Edward's final shot before Traylor closed the game with two free throws. 
 
St. Edward's falls to 12-16 with a 5-4 conference record. The Hilltoppers will host Arkansas Fort Smith on Saturday.