SHAWNEE – Banged up and down a couple of starters, OBU (5-4, 2-1 GAC) had their hands full on Saturday evening as a red-hot Southeastern (7-1, 3-0 GAC) squad put on a three-point clinic to top the Bison 82-64 inside the Noble Complex.
Despite shooting over 43 percent in the contest, Oklahoma Baptist had no answer for the Savage Storm behind the arc, as SEOSU tallied 18 triples.
The Bison posted a season-best nine blocks, including five from Freshman D.J. Freeman. OBU also held the rebounding advantage, finishing with a 42-32 margin over SEOSU.
The two were neck-and-neck through the early part of the first half until Southeastern mounted a 16-11 run to take a 33-28 lead with 4:20 left. OBU stayed within reach of SEOSU for the remaining of the half, but the Savage Storm had everything going their way as Jett Sternberger put in the squad's tenth triple of the half as the buzzer sounded for intermission.
Southeastern's momentum carried into the concluding half as they remained consistent from the arc, netting eight more three-pointers. The Bison were held to a 36.7 percent shooting clip in the half, allowing SEOSU to pile onto their lead and defeat OBU this evening.
Freeman turned in his best outing of the season, finishing one rebound short of his first career double-double with nine boards and 15 points. As mentioned, he led the Bison with five blocks and added a steal to his stat sheet.
Burke Putnam scored a team-best 22 points on 47.3 percent shooting and brought down eight rebounds. Nigel Wilcox collected 10 boards en route to eight points, while Jaquan Simms tallied 11 points.
Buddy Johnson led the Savage Storm with 28 points, finishing 8-for-12 from the three-point line. Point guard Adam Dworsky recorded nine assists, while Kellen Manek was SEOSU's second-highest scorer with 11 points.
Oklahoma Baptist will play inside the Noble Complex for the last time in 2021, as they'll host East Central for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on December 18.
