SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team shot over 50% for the second consecutive game and outscored Wayne State 45-27 in the second half as they cruised to an 83-58 win on Saturday evening at the Noble Complex, completing a perfect opening weekend at the Bison Conference Challenge.
OBU shot 32 of 61 (53%) from the field including a red hot 13 of 24 (54%) from behind the arc despite only getting to the free throw line seven times. The Bison had 26 points in the paint, 25 points off the bench, and 15 fast break points. OBU completely dominated the boards with a 41-22 advantage.
On the other side, the Wildcats shot 19 of 53 (36%) from the field including 5 of 16 (31%) from behind the arc. Wayne State got to the line 23 times, shooting 66% from the charity stripe. The OBU defense did a good job limiting the Wildcats all night as they only had four points off the bench and nine fast break points.
It was a back-and-forth affair early on with Wayne State getting the early advantage, building a 19-11 lead in the first eight minutes. With the Wildcats leading 21-15, OBU was able to completely turn the momentum as
Jaquan Simms caught fire, scoring the next 14 points for OBU including four 3-pointers to push the Bison ahead 29-25. Brantley Thompson added a three ball while
Jacque Brown had a pair of free throws and it was a 19-4 run to give OBU a 34-25 lead.
The Bison maintained control and took a 38-31 lead into the break despite numerous players in early foul trouble.
In the second half, Wayne State kept trying to push OBU and get back into the contest, getting as close as five and looking to have turned the tide after a technical foul was called on an apparent flop. However, OBU stayed poised and responded greatly as they instead pushed the lead out to 20 thanks to big plays from
Rashad Lewis and
Kurt Hall. Simms fifth 3-pointer of the night made it a 72-52 game with under eight to play.
From there, OBU locked down the Wildcats for the remainder of the game and kept pushing the lead out, eventually emptying the bench for valuable time. The Bison finished things off with an 83-58 win to send the crowd home happy.
Simms finished with 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting including five 3-pointers while Lewis had 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting with five assists and three steals. Brown had 10 points to go with eight assists while
Dishon Lowery had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
Harrison Stoddart had eight points and 11 rebounds while Hall and Thompson each poured in eight points.
Nate Mohr had 15 points for Wayne State while Al'Tavius Jackson and Jordan Janssen each had 11 points.
