SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team will finally take the floor in the 2020-21 season on Saturday afternoon as they welcome Mid-America Christian for an exhibition contest at 3 p.m. inside the Noble Complex.
In accordance with Great American Conference policy, no fans will be allowed during contests to start the year. Further conference-wide discussions will take place prior to games on Jan. 21 to determine if member schools can operate at 25 percent capacity for the remainder of the regular season.
OBU Athletics will be providing an online live stream of Saturday's contest. Fans can watch a free, live, high-definition broadcast of the exhibition at
OBUBison.com/watch.
The Bison are fresh off an unbelievable 22-9 season a year ago that included an appearance in the GAC Championship Game and an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Bison were set to play No. 1 Northwest Missouri State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the championship was canceled due to COVID-19.
It leaves OBU hungry for more, including returning to the very tournament they were so close to playing in.
The Bison return seven letterwinners in 2020-21 and three key senior starters in
Jaquan Simms,
Harrison Stoddart, and
Brantly Thompson.
Simms led the team with 12.4 points per game as he was especially a threat from deep, shooting 38 percent from downtown. The versatile forward Stoddart averaged 11.3 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field and pulling down five boards per game to go with 1.2 blocks per game.
Thompson averaged close to nine points per game and nearly five boards as well as three assists per contest.
Jarius Hicklen will look to elevate into an even bigger role from his rookie season. Hicklen was tremendous in his debut on Bison Hill, finishing fourth on the team with 9.1 points per game, including 39 percent from behind the arc.
Trey Green,
Sayvon Milton, and
Jack Pruitt all return from a season ago while newcomers
Jordan Thompson,
Nigel Wilcox,
Justin Tene,
Graham Stiefel,
Thomas Sowoolu, and
Trace Boling join the team and will all look to make an impact.
MACU comes into the contest at 4-0 on the season and is currently ranked No. 2 in the NAIA. They are led by Omar Boone, who averages 18.0 points per game, while Terrance Jones adds 14.3 points per game and Malik Malone pours in 12.0 points per game.
The Great American Conference basketball season will feature a 20-game divisional schedule as the Bison will take on conference rivals in the state of Oklahoma four times each with OBU opening its season at home on Jan. 7 against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m.
