CANYON, Texas – Burke Putnam scored a team-high 24 points as No. 24 Oklahoma Baptist (3-2, 0-0 GAC) Bison fell 61-58 to No. 6 West Texas-A&M (7-1, 0-0 LSC) on the first day of the 2021 Pak-A-Sak WT Thanksgiving Classic in Canyon.
Despite outscoring the Buffs in the second half, OBU's upset bid fell short as WT put in a couple of baskets late to shut out Oklahoma Baptist.
The Bison shot 50 percent for the contest after posting a 32 percent field-goal percentage in the first half. OBU held the highly-touted WT offense to a 36.4 percent shooting clip, including a 30.6 percent posting in the concluding half.
Oklahoma Baptist was out-rebounded for the first time this season, as the Buffs held a 36-31 advantage. WT's total included 20 offensive boards, which proved to be more meaningful than OBU's 23 defensive rebounds.
The contest got off to a rocky start for the Bison as West Texas-A&M hopped out to a 22-5 lead midway through the first half. Fortunately, a Jaquan Simms triple sparked an 11-3 run that brought the Bison within six with 2:40 left in the inaugural half.
The Buff closed the half convincingly, scoring seven more points to build a 12-point lead, 35-23.
Out of the intermission, West Texas-A&M rode their momentum to lead by as much as 14, drawing the tally to 37-23 at the 19:35 mark. OBU countered with a 17-6 run that involved 13 straight Burke Putnam points.
After a Nigel Wilcox dunk, the score read 51-50, in favor of WT, with 5:38 left. The squads traded buckets until a Wilcox layup gave the Bison their first lead of the game, 58-57.
With only nine seconds left, the Buffs sunk in a layup and relied on the charity stripe for their game-sealing points.
Putnam put in 10-of-19 attempts from the field and added three assists to complete his solid outing. Jaquan Simms put up double-digits for a second consecutive game, scoring 14 total, including two triples.
Nigel Wilcox and D.J. Freeman garnered the majority of the Bisons' rebounds, pulling down nine and seven, respectively. Each would chart six points as well.
Justin Tene and Trey Green drew starts to collect five and three points, respectively. Both tallied four rebounds while Green dished out three assists.
Oklahoma Baptist will wrap up their stay in Canyon as they'll face Lone Star Conference affiliate, Eastern New Mexico, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. This will be the sixth meeting in school history and the first since the 1985-86 season.
