Oklahoma Baptist, picked last in the Great American Conference preseason poll, got three Tyler Lester three-pointers in the final 3:29 to stun Henderson State Saturday, 61-57.
The Bison trailed 56-46 with 4:36 left in the game and finished on a 15-1 run after Lester got hot and the defense came out of its zone to play man to man.
Steven Green hit a pair of free throws to knock the lead down to 56-48 and Lester scored his first three of the game with 3:29 left to make it a 56-51 score.
Green got a steal and a dunk to make it 56-53 with 3:04 to go.
Henderson State made one of two free throws to make it 57-53 with 2:36 left, but that was the end of the scoring.
"Man defense was almost a last resort," said OBU Coach Quinn Wooldridge. "We needed more pressure on the ball and the guys stepped up and did it."
Lester drilled a three-pointer to make it a one-point game at the 2:16. He then grabbed a defensive rebound and lofted another trey through the nets for a 59-57 OBU lead with 1:17 remaining.
"It felt good to get back in my groove," Lester said.
Chandler Rickey iced the game with a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go.
"We had to be resilient and play one offensive and one defensive possession at a time," Wooldridge said. "Tyler came through for us at the end."
Timotis Kuckailis led the Bison with 13 points with Green adding 11 points and 11 rebounds. Rickey added 10 points and Vladimir Nemcok had 10 points and six assists.
Kevin Kozan led the Reddies with 19 points.
Now 2-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Great American Conference, the Bison host Jarvis Christian Nov. 30.
