Bison Open GAC Play, Return Home Saturday

SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball prepare for a stiff test this upcoming as they take on the preseason GAC favorites in Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday in Durant before returning home on Saturday to take on the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers at the Noble Complex.

OBU is coming off a historic weekend as they went 1-1 including their first NCAA Division II road victory over a ranked team, defeating then No. 24 Tarleton State by the score of 69-57 in Stephenville, Texas. The Bison used a dominant performance on the boards to go with stifling defense, holding the Texans to 21 of 58 (36%) from the field and outrebounding them 50-33 including 16 offensive rebounds.

Jarius Hicklen finished with 15 points off the bench on 6 of 9 shooting while Rashad Lewis had 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Jaquan Simms had a terrific all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Dishon Lowery was just off a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds while Mohammed Abubakar had seven points, a steal, and a block.

OBU went into their match up with Rogers State with a 3-0 record, but a slow first half doomed the Bison as they could not complete the comeback against a red-hot Hillcat team by the score of 91-84.

Down 67-52 in the second half, OBU used a huge 14-2 run midway through the second half to cut the deficit down to three points with under eight minutes to play. However, the Bison did not quite have enough juice to complete the comeback as Rogers pushed it back out to 10 and held off any other OBU runs for the seven point home win.

Simms finished with 19 points including six 3-pointers while Jacque Brown had 16 points, six assists, and two steals and Lewis had 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Kurt Hall scored 11 points while Brantly Thompson had nine points and seven rebounds.

Simms and Lewis each lead the team with 13.5 points per game while Simms shooting a red-hot 48% from the behind the arc and Lewis is adding 3.5 assists per game. Brown is at 10.8 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per game while Lowery and Hall each averaged 7.3 points per game while Lowery adding 7.3 rebounds per game. Harrison Stoddart is at 7.0 points per game to go with six blocks on the year.

OBU as a team is averaging 77.0 points per game and holding opponents to 65.8 points per game. The Bison are shooting 46% from the field as a team and 39% from behind the arc. The Bison have a +9.5 advantage in boards, but have a -2.3 turnover margin, averaging 15.8 per game.

The Bison start the week and conference play with a huge test in Durant against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Despite dominant wins over then ranked No. 15 Northern State and Minnesota Duluth, the Savage Storm are stunningly not ranked, but are receiving the most votes in the most recent NBCA polls. 

The Savage Storm average 85.0 points per game and shoot 50% from the field and are led by reigning GAC Player of the Year Kevin Buckingham, averaging 18.5 points per game. A'Toney Everett pitches in 18.0 points per game while point guard Adam Dworsky averages 16.5 points per game to go with an incredible 12.5 assists per game. Southeastern only averages 8.5 turnovers per game as a team. Kayo Goncalves adds 13.0 points per game to go with 7.5 rebounds per game.

OBU will wrap up that three game road stand and finally return to Noble on Saturday as they welcome in Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Rangers are 1-1 on the year, falling to Northeastern State by 21 before knocking off Central Oklahoma at home 63-55.

Offense has been a struggle for the Rangers, averaging 58.0 points per game to go with a 37 percent shooting percentage. The Rangers also average 17.5 turnovers per game this season. Northwestern is led by Parrish Hewitt with 19.5 points per game and 7.5 rebound sper game while Jaedon Whitfield pitches in 12.5 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. Hewitt scored 28 points in the win over the Bronchos.

Tip time for the Savage Storm game will be at 7:30 following the women and will be on KGFF in Shawnee with Todd Miller and Scott Wanish. Tip-off against the Rangers is set for 3 p.m. and will feature live video via obubison.com.

Reserved and general admission tickets are available at the Noble Complex box office, or online at OBUBison.com/Tickets. Tickets will be valid for entry to both games each evening. OBU students and faculty/staff receive free admission with their OBU ID.