STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team used a dominant performance on the boards to go with stifling defense as they knocked off No. 24 Tarleton State 69-57 on Thursday evening as Wisdom Gymnasium.
OBU shot 21 of 59 (36%) from the field including 10 of 33 (30%) from beyond the arc and 17 of 23 (74%) from the free throw line. On the other side, the Texans shot 21 of 58 (36%) from the field including 6 of 26 (26%) from deep and 9 of 16 (56%) from the free throw line.
OBU completely dominated the boards with a 50-33 advantage including 16 offensive rebounds on the night. The Bison turned it over 15 times including 11 times in the second half and forced Tarleton into 10 turnovers on the night. OBU had 28 bench points tonight to 11 from Tarleton and the Bison had 12 fastbreak points.
It was a defensive battle early on as neither team could find much traction in the early goings. A 3-pointer from
Jaquan Simms and a lay in from
Rashad Lewis was all the scoring early on as it was 5-5 through five minutes of play. Simms would add a second 3-pointer while
Mohammed Abubakar added a bucket for OBU's first lead at 10-7 at the under 12 mark.
OBU would conitnue to maintain their lead as the game moved into the later part of the second half as
Jarius Hicklen began to heat up, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and adding a lay in to pick up eight points and keep OBU ahead 21-20 with with five minutes to play in the half.
OBU would win the final five minutes of the half, outscoring the Texans 7-1 as Lewis scored five points including a 3-pointer to give the Bison a 28-21 lead at the break.
The Bison started the second half quickly as a 3-point play from
Dishon Lowery pushed the lead to 31-22, but a quick 8-0 run by Tarleton ignited its home crowd and got the game to 31-30. However, OBU got an 8-0 run of their own that extended to a 13-2 run to swing the momentum back in their favor.
Kurt Hall had a huge 3-point play to seize momentum followed by Simms' third 3-pointer of the night. Abubakar added four points all at the free throw line during the run while Hicklen added his third 3-pointer to make it a 44-32 game.
Tarleton pushed the game back down to six points, but OBU had an answer with the long ball as
Jacque Brown and Simms knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to go back ahead 50-40.Â
After a Texans basket, Lewis had back-to-back buckets of his own to push the lead back to 54-42. Hicklen added a lay in while Lewis knocked down a 3-pointer to give OBU their biggest lead of the game at 59-44 with six minutes to play, silenting a crowd of over 1,800 fans.
Tarleton had one final push to get it down to nine, but it was not nearly enough as a mid-range jumper from Hicklen proved to be the dagger along with free throws throughout the rest of the way to pull the upset and go back to Shawnee with a 69-57 win.
Hicklen finished with 15 points off the bench on 6 of 9 shooting while Lewis had 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Simms had a terrific all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Lowery was just off a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds while Abubakar had seven points, a steal, and a block.
Josh Hawley had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals to lead the Texans while Randall Broddie added 14 points.
OBU moves to 3-0 on the young season for the first time since joining NCAA Division II. It was also their first win over a ranked opponent since defeating Southern Arkansas on their home floor last season. It remains tough for the Bison as they prepare to head to Claremore on Saturday afternoon as they take on Rogers State with tip-off set for 4 p.m.Â
