SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist righted itself in a big way with a comfortable 83-69 victory over visiting Southwestern Oklahoma State. OBU, losers of three straight men's basketball games, regained some much-needed momentum, improving to 12-10 on the year and 11-5 in the Great American Conference.
The Bison are tied with East Central for third place in the GAC. Both are one game back of second-place Southern Arkansas and two off the pace of league leader Southern Nazarene. OBU will have its chance at bouncing the top-ranked team, traveling to face SNU Thursday in Bethany.
Julian Daughtry had a season-high 17 points and
Harrison Stoddart added 15 as OBU easily handled the visiting Bulldogs. Other double figure scorers included
Antonio Wade with 14 and
Tyler Lester adding 11 in an impressive return from injury.
OBU led 43-31 at the break and built its margin to 21 midway through the second half. Coach
Jason Eaker emptied the bench and allowed reserves to close the game's remainder.
The Bison finished shooting 30-of-59 for 50.8 percent while making 14 three-pointers. The 14 triples were the most since stinging Washburn with 15 in the opener. Along with Daughtry's three triples, OBU had two other players –
Caleb Norris and
Tyler Lester – who finished with three threes.
