Oklahoma Wins Season Opener Over Eastern Washington, 69-59

Oklahoma has some work to do in learning how to play without Hollis Price.

De'Angelo Alexander scored 18 points as the 15th-ranked Sooners used a strong finish for a 69-59 victory over Eastern Washington in the first round of the Sooner Invitational.

Oklahoma played its season opener without Price, a four-year starter who graduated with a school-record 110 wins. His replacement, freshman Drew Lavender, netted 12 points.

"A lot of stuff we're going through is that our freshmen are growing up," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Our team is a work in progress."

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Josh Barnard's basket with under seven minutes left gave Eastern Washington a 58-51 advantage. The Sooners responded with 14 straight points, taking its first lead on Kevin Bookout's follow shot made it 59-58 with 4:44 to go. Alexander capped it with a four-point play for a 65-58 advantage with 1:38 to go.

"I knew we had to get a quick shot," Alexander said. "The shot clock was on four seconds and I just had to find an opening and get an open look."

Oklahoma will face Oral Roberts, which defeated South Carolina State, in Saturday's championship game.

Eastern Washington dominated early with a 13-2 start and led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Lavender scored six points in a 13-3 spurt to close the half to pull Oklahoma within 36-33.

The Eagles quickly built the lead back up to 10 on Alvin Snow's jumper for a 44-34 cushion nearly two minutes into the second half. They continued to hold the lead, but failed to convert a basket in the final 6:55.

"I'll take the blame for that and I need to do a better job of communicating what we are doing," Eagles coach Ray Giacoletti said. "We just got a little flustered near the end and I hope we learn from it and move on."

Oklahoma played without guard Jason Detrick, who is nursing an abdominal injury, and freshman Lawrence McKenzie took his place. Jaison Williams netted 10 points off the bench.

"The team dug in and came together," Alexander said. "We had to get stops on defense. That was a big part of the ballgame."

Barnard scored 17 points and Snow added 13 for Eastern Washington, which shot 59 percent (13-of-22) in the first half before coming up empty down the stretch. The Eagles committed 23 turnovers.