Big First Half Leads Bison Past Northwestern

ALVA, Okla. - A 27-6 first half run opened up a 20-point first half lead as the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team led by as many at 26 points as they went on the road and defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State 86-68 at Percefull Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

OBU shot 25 of 59 (42%) from the field including 52 percent in the first half. The Bison were 9 of 24 (38%) from deep and shot 57 percent with eight made 3-pointers in the first half. The Bison were 27 of 34 (79%) from the charity stripe.

On the other side, OBU held Northwestern to 36 percent shooting in the first half and 23 of 53 (43%) overall including 4 of 20 (20%) from behind the arc. The Rangers were 18 of 27 (67%) from the free throw line. 

Northwestern held a slight 38-37 advantage in rebounds and the Bison turned the Rangers over 14 times while only giving it away an amazing five times.

OBU opened the game up with the lead and never looked back as Jaquan Simms and Brantly Thompson started red hot to push the Bison ahead 13-4 in the first five minutes. 

That lead was cut to 19-14 with 11:30 to play in the half before OBU exploded for a massive 27-6 run which including eight straights points from Harrison Stoddart, who scored 11 total during the run to take a 46-20 lead late in the first half.

Northwestern got it down to 20 but Simms buried a buzzer beater from beyond the arc to take a dominant 52-29 lead at the break. OBU was outstanding and did not turn the ball over one time in the first half and did not commit their first turnover until around 14 minutes remaining in the second half.

As hot of a start the Bison got off to in the first half, it was the complete opposite in the second half as the Rangers used a 14-3 run to crawl back into the contest and get as close at 13 points.

After getting it down to 58-43, the Bison raced back ahead thanks to an 11-2 run to go back ahead 69-45 and roll the rest of the way to a xx-xx road win to earn a huge split on the first half of their four game road stretch.

Stoddart finished with 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting including four 3-pointers while Simms added 18 points including three 3-pointers and three steals. OBU had three different players with 10 points in Thompson, Mohammed Abubakar, and Rashad Lewis. Abubakar added five rebounds and a block while Lewis had five rebounds and three assists. Dishon Lowery scored seven points off the bench to go with seven rebounds. The Bison only had five turnovers in the entire contest.

Parrish Hewitt had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Rangers while Clive Allen had 16 points and five assists. 

OBU moved to 11-5 overall and 6-4 in the GAC with the split this weekend. The Bison will enter the second half of their road trip next weekend as they head to Arkansas for a pair of games. They begin on Thursday night in Magnolia against Southern Arkansas beginning at 7:30 p.m.