SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team rebounded from a tough loss on the road at third-ranked West Texas A&M with a tremendous effort inside the Noble Complex, defeating Great American Conference favorite Southeastern Oklahoma State, 73-59, Thursday night.
The Bison were cold in the first half, shooting on the lower end of 40 percent, but exploded in the second half going nearly 58 percent from the field. Overall, the Bison finished 29 of 60 (48%) to go with eight three-pointers and 11 trips to the free throw line.
Defensively, OBU excelled as they held Southeastern to 23 of 54 (43%) from the field and 6 of 24 (25%) from behind the arc. Southeastern struggled at the line, shooting 7 of 14 (50%). The Bison forced Southeastern into 18 turnovers and dominated the paint with 36 points.
Harrison Stoddart got the scoring started with a lay in for a 2-0 lead, but it was the Savage Storm who got off to a great start, hitting tough shots in the early going to take a 16-8 lead towards the midway point of the first half.
The Bison got good looks during the stretch, but could not get shots to fall early on. However, a 7-0 run brought a spark to the Bison as
Jaquan Simms connected on a three-pointer, followed by a
Trey Green steal leading to a
Brantly Thompson lay in. Simms added another bucket to cut the deficit to 16-15.
The two teams exchanged baskets as Southeastern led 20-19 before a 12-4 run pushed OBU ahead by seven thanks to nine points from
Jarius Hicklen and a three-pointer from Stoddart.
However, Southeastern cut the deficit down to three right before the half as OBU took a 34-31 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Bison took their biggest lead in the blink of an eye as
Jordan Thompson connected on a long three and Simms added a lay up for a 39-31 lead. Southeastern got a lay in, but a
Justin Tene put back and five straight points from Simms gave the Bison a 46-33 lead five minutes into the second half.
With renewed energy and all the momentum on their side, the Bison rode the wave of their lead and never looked back as they see-sawed their 13 point lead for most of the second half.
Southeastern made a run at the Bison, closing the gap to five points with 5:35 to play, but Stoddart connected on a lay in, plus the foul, followed by five straight points from Hicklen to race back out to a 69-57 lead. OBU closed the game on a 7-0 run to take the 73-59 victory over the Storm.
Stoddart led the way with 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting to go with eight rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Hicklen added 20 points and a pair of steals, while Simms scored 13 points to go with four assists.
Brantly Thompson scored nine with eight rebounds and four assists\, while
Nigel Wilcox pulled down eight boards to go with two blocks. Green added a pair of steals and three assists.
Kellen Manek paced Southeastern with 14 points and seven boards, while Bobby Johnson added 12 points and RJ Weeks scored 11.
OBU moves to 1-1 on the young season and will prepare for another tough test on Saturday as they head to Alva to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. on the Bison Sports Network.
