The Saint Mary men's basketball team earned an 89-88 upset win over #20 Okahoma Wesleyan in the Ryan Sports Center on Saturday. The win improves the Spires to 6-5 on the season and 4-1 in KCAC play. The Eagles entered the game 9-2 on the season. Saint Mary now owns sole possession of second place in the KCAC, one game back of #8 Southwestern who is 5-0 in KCAC play.

The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes as the teams battled back and forth throughout the contest. By the 15:37 mark in the first half, the teams were tied at 10-10. Saint Mary would work their way to a four point lead from there, but Oklahoma Wesleyan would not go away. After the game saw two more ties, Oklahoma Wesleyan pushed out to a 27-22 lead with 7:07 left in the first half. A 7-2 run by the Spires evened the score at 29 just three minutes later. The game would be tied three more times before halftime, but Saint Mary would take a two point lead into halftime.

The Spires pushed their lead to seven points early in the second half, but the Eagles stormed back to take the lead again with 15:28 on the clock. The game would be tied for the 10th time at 60-60 with ten minutes to play. The Spires pushed back out to a four point lead, but the Eagles tied it for an 11th time with 4:36 left to go. From there, Saint Mary went on an 8-0 run to claim the lead for good, but Oklahoma Wesleyan didn't go without a fight. The Eagles trimmed the lead all the way to two points on two occasions in the closing minutes. Edvonte Copeland's four free throws down the stretch helped the Spires seal it. A three from Okahoma Wesleyan as time expired brought the deficit to one, but Saint Mary would be victorious.

Demetrius Cady led all scorers in the game with 24 points. Saint Mary had three other players score in double figures. Teyvon Lundy and Copeland each had 12 points while Brett Marsh added 11. Lavar McCullough and Copeland each had a team high four rebounds. Lundy added two steals and Cady blocked a shot. Another solid performance at the free throw line paced the Spires to victory. Saint Mary made 25 of 31 attempts at the charity stripe. Oklahoma Wesleyan made just 15 of 24 attempts for 63% at the free throw line. The Spires shot 48% from the field and 42% from three in the win as well.

The men's basketball team will be back in action at Tabor on Wednesday at 8pm. The Blue Jays are 4-5 on the season and 3-2 in KCAC play.