Bison Streak Snapped by Hot Shooting East Central

SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team saw their eight game winning streak snapped thanks to a trio of hot East Central shooters, taking a 78-70 victory over the Bison on Thursday evening inside the Noble Complex.

East Central shot 29 of 57 (51%) from the field and 10 of 18 (56%) from deep. The Tigers were over 50 percent from the field in both halves and were 10 of 15 (67%) at the line.

The Bison were not bad on their end shooting wise, going 25 of 52 (48%) from the field and 10 of 23 (44%) from deep while also going 10 of 15 at the line. 

East Central won the turnover battle at 13-11 and also held a 34-26 advantage in rebounds on the night including nine offensive boards. 

The Tigers came out red hot early on as they connected on their first three shots to open a 7-2 lead. Jaquan Simms knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a long ball from Harrison Stoddart to go ahead 8-7.

It was a flurry of points early as both teams exchanged back-and-forths to even things at up 12. ECU would score five straight to go ahead 17-12 before the long ball got the deficit down the one as Jordan Thompson and Stoddart each knocked down triples.

East Central began to heat up from three as Matt Garriga caught fire and was part of a huge 11-2 run late in the first half to open up a 32-22 lead. OBU got it back down to five on buckets from Jordan Thompson and Jarius Hicklen, but the Tigers rode the wave of momentum from their shooters, including a fourth 3-pointer from Garriga, to lead 39-32 at the break.

OBU cut it to three almost immediately in the second half thanks to a 3-pointer from Brantly Thompson, but a 10-0 run including eight points from Garriga opened up a 49-36 lead, stunning the Bison four minutes into the half.

Fresh off a huge comeback on Monday, OBU dug deep to find some magic again as both Brantly and Jordan Thompson as well Simms and Wilcox dug in for a 13-4 run to cut it back down four at 53-49.

However, the trio of Garriga, Romello Wilbert, and Josh Apple continued to will the Tigers forward. Garriga and Wilbert gave ECU a giant scoring boost and as the game progressed, leading scorer Jalen Crutchfield began to heat up.

ECU responded to the Bison's run with a 7-0 run of their own to get the lead back out to 11. Brantly responded with a triple before Garriga connected on his seventh triple to get it back to 11. 

When Thompson buried another three, Crutchfield answered with one of his own and it seemed the Bison could not find a run to respond to the hot shooting Tigers.

East Central had an answer the rest of the way despite a good shooting half from OBU and the Tigers held strong and left Shawnee with a big 78-70 win to close the game to 2.5 games in the GAC Western Division Standings.

Brantly Thompson finished with 17 points and three assists while Jordan Thompson scored 11 off the bench. Stoddart and Hicklen each had 10 points with Stoddart adding eight boards while Simms scored nine with three assists. 

Wilcox added eight points, eight boards, and three blocks while Trey Green had five points and a steal.

Garriga led ECU with 23 points on 7 of 7 shooting from three while Wilbert added 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Apple finished with 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting, 13 rebounds, and five assists.

OBU moves to 9-4 overall and 9-3 in the GAC. They will set their sights on Saturday as they head to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State. Tip-off from the Pioneer Events Center is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be carried on the Bison Radio Network.