Bison Lock Down Tigers for Home Victory

SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team put together a terrific defensive effort in the first half as they built a 25-point lead en route to an 89-62 win over the Central Christian Tigers on Thursday evening at the Noble Complex.

The Bison shot 33 of 62 (53%) from the field and were 9 of 28 (32%) from behind the arc. OBU was also 14 of 21 (67%) from the free throw line. On the other side, the Tigers were 22 of 55 (40%) from the field, but were held to 6 of 23 (26%) in the first half. Central Christian was a meager 3 of 17 (18%) from behind the arc and 15 of 19 (79%) at the charity stripe. 

The Bison dominated the boards with a 40-27 advantage and forced Central Christian into 20 turnovers on the night. OBU turned it over 15 times, but had an impressive 22 assists in the contest. The Bison had 45 bench points, 44 points in the paint, and 25 points off turnovers.

OBU got off to a slow start early on, but was able to build a 7-2 lead behind dominant post play from Dishon Lowery and Mohammed Abubakar.  The Bison built that lead out to 13-4 as Trey Green jump started the offense with a 3-pointer while OBU continued to go to work in the post.

Coming out of the under 12 media timeout, the Bison held a 14-8 lead and proceeded to go on a 16-0 run aided by tremendous defense as they held the Tigers scoreless for over seven minutes of play. The Bison used a mix of drives to the bucket from their backcourt including 10 straight points from Jaquan Simms as he buried a pair of 3-pointers during the run. 

The Bison held a 30-8 lead with under five minutes to play in the half and built that lead to 25 points as Kurt Hall, Harrison Stoddart, and Jarius Hicklen all got into the scoring mix to end the half at 40-15.

OBU started slow in the second half as Central Christian finally got some offense in motion and was able to cut into the deficit. Throughout the first seven minutes of the half, the Tigers got it down to a 15 point game at 47-32 and looked to be building some momentum. 

However, OBU slammed that momentum shut as they responded with a 7-0 run including a 3-pointer from Simms as well as lay ups from Lowery and Rashad Lewis. 

As the Bison began to empty their bench, they built their lead as high as 30 points as they cruised to an 89-62 win to close out the 2019 portion of their season and move their home record to 5-0.

It was a balanced effort all around as Simms led the scorers with 13 points including three 3-pointers, four rebounds, and two steals. Lowery added 12 points and nine boards while Hicklen and Abubakar each had 10 points. Hicklen added three assists while Abubakar had a pair of steals.

Lewis and Brantly Thompson each had five assists and two steals on the night while Stoddart, Hall, and Sayvon Milton each poured in seven points. Green and Milton each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.

Isaiah Rivera led the Tigers with 20 points on the night while TJ Williams added nine points and two steals.

OBU moves to 7-3 on the season and have now won three games in a row. The Bison will enter the holiday season and will take two weeks off before returning to the hardwood in 2020. OBU will move exclusively into Great American Conference play beginning on January 2nd as they travel to Arkadelphia, Ark. for a 7:30 p.m. match-up against the Henderson State Reddies.