Bison Can't Overcome Reddie Defense

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team went toe-to-toe throughout the first half with Henderson State as the Duke Wells Center, a building where the Reddies are unbeaten in 2019-20. However, the Reddies closed the first half in a big way and never turned back as they took an 83-70 win in the first contest of the new decade.

OBU struggled with the Henderson defense, shooting 24 of 64 (38%) from the field, 8 of 28 (29%) from behind the arc, and 14 of 20 (70%) from the free throw line. On the other side, the Reddies shot 30 of 63 (48%) from the field, 5 of 14 (36%) from the free throw line, and 18 of 24 (75%) from the charity stripe. The Bison really struggled on the turnover end, giving it away 20 times to only 11 assists. 

After falling behind 8-5 in the first five minutes, OBU went on a 9-0 run thanks to five points from Rashad Lewis and four points in the paint from Dishon Lowery to give the Bison a 14-8 lead. Henderson State answered right back with a 7-0 run to take a 15-14 lead.

From there, it would be a see-saw battled as both Lewis and Lowery paced the Bison as they game sat at 36-34 with 1:46 to play in the half. From there, a huge 9-2 run with a multitude of Bison turnovers turned the game on its head and put all the momentum in Henderson's favor, leading 45-36 at the break.

In the second half, OBU looked to find a run to get back into the contest, but couldn't seem to string together successful possessions as they seemed to consistently trail by 11 points throughout the half.

Henderson would push the lead as high at 16 points midway through the second half, but Jaquan Simms began to heat up along with Mohammed Abubakar. Brantly Thompson would knock down back-to-back 3-pointers to get teh game down to eight points with four to play. 

That would be as close as the Bison would get as the Reddies were able to close the game out after the final media timeout to take the 13-point win.

Lowery finished with a season-high 21 points to go with eight boards and a steal while Thompson scored 13 points on three 3-pointers to go with seven rebounds. Lewis added 12 points and four assists while Simms finished with 10 points. Kurt Hall had four points and three steals including a monster poster slam.

Mike Fofana led the Reddies with 18 points while Chris Parker added 16 points. Anthony Lupardus and Chris Owens each scored 12 points each.

OBU moves to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the GAC. They finish their Arkadelphia trip on Saturday as they move across the road to take on Ouachita Baptist beginning at 3 p.m.