SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team will take the floor for the first time in 2020 as they head to Arkadelphia for a pair of Great American Conference match-ups beginning on Thursday night against Henderson State followed by a Saturday afternoon tilt with Ouachita.
Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday between the Bison and the Reddies while Saturday's game between the Bison and Tigers is set for 3 p.m., both following the women's game.. The game will be on KGFF in Shawnee with Todd Miller and
James Hill.
It's been two weeks since the Bison last took the floor, but in their last game way back in 2019, OBU 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 Decemeber 19 at the Noble Complex, moving their home record to 5-0 including three straight wins to move to 7-3 and 2-2 in the GAC.
It was a balanced effort all around as
Jaquan Simms led the scorers with 13 points including three 3-pointers, four rebounds, and two steals.
Dishon Lowery added 12 points and nine boards while
Jarius Hicklen and
Mohammed Abubakar each had 10 points. Hicklen added three assists while Abubakar had a pair of steals.
Rashad Lewis andÂ
Brantly Thompson each had five assists and two steals on the night while
Harrison Stoddart,
Kurt Hall, andÂ
Sayvon Milton each poured in seven points.
Trey Green and Milton each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
Simms continues to lead the Bison with 12.6 points per game including an impressive 44% from behind the arc.He also adds 30 assists and 15 steals, both towards the top of the team.
Lewis adds 12.1 points per game to go with a team-leading 37 assists while Stoddart pours in 11.2 points per game to go with 5.7 rebounds per game and a team-leading 15 blocks.
Thompson had come on strong as of late after returning from injury as he enters with 8.8 points per game while Lowery adds 8.5 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. Hicklen adds 8.4 points per game.
OBU will have a stiff test on Thursday as take on Henderson State, who checks in with a 7-3 record and a 5-0 reocrd at home. They are 2-2 in GAC play, losing their last two contests on the road. They last played on December 18 at Pittsburg State, earning an 88-78 win.
Chris Parker leads the Reddies with 16.4 points per game to go with 27 assists and 10 steals. Raekwon Rogers checks in with 11.4 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game, 11 steals, and 10 blocks while Rel Johnson adds 10.9 points per game to go with 11 steals. Quawn Marshall comes in with 8.9 points per game to go with 21 steals.
Ouachita checks in with a 4-4 record this season including 2-2 on their home floor. The Tigers are 2-2 in GAC play as they've won three consecutive games including back-to-back GAC contests over Southern Arkansas and at Harding, their last contest of 2019 on December 14 heading into their Thursday night tilt against two-time defending champion Southern Nazarene.
Matt Stanley leads the pack with 10.8 points per game to go with a team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game. Kendarious Smith is right behind Stanley with 10.6 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. Raymond Harris adds 9.3 points per game. Larenz Nero adds 6.8 points per game and a team-leading 23 assists and 13 steals.
The Bison will look to improve on a 2-3 road record and move up the GAC standings, where they currently sit in a five-way tie for fourth.
