Men's Hoops Inches Closer to Top Seed in Western Division

SHAWNEE -- The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team inches closer to clinching the top seed in the Western Division as the Bison welcome Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday before taking on Southern Nazarene on Monday night at the Noble Complex.

OBU's matchup at Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday evening was canceled due to inclement winter weather in the entire state of Oklahoma.

Due to city-wide water pressure issues caused by the week's record cold weather, no fans will be allowed to attend Saturday's game. 

Both contests will be on the Bison Sports Network on the OBU YouTube channel featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play and Scott Wanish on color commentary. The game will also be featured on the Bison Radio Network across the state of Oklahoma and worldwide on the iHeartRadio app. 

The Bison lead the GAC Western Division by 2.5 games over second-place Southern Nazarene. If OBU defeats Northwestern and East Central knocks off SNU at home, the Bison will clinch a share of the Western Division with three games to claim it outright.

However, if SNU wins, the Bison will be welcoming in the second-place Storm to the Noble Complex on Monday night with a chance to clinch the division outright. 

OBU comes off a tough home loss to East Central last Thursday that snapped an eight-game winning streak before bouncing back with a huge 84-78 win over SWOSU in Weatherford behind a season-high 18 rebounds and 25 points from Harrison Stoddart and 22 points from Brantly Thompson.

Defense continues to lead the Bison as they are 23rd in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 41.3 percent from the field. OBU is also first in the league in total rebounds with 516 and second in the GAC in total blocks with 48. The Bison also do a good job not fouling opponents, leading the conference with 15.6 personal fouls per game.

Rebounding continues to be key for OBU as they are 10-1 in games they have out rebounded their opponents while going 0-3 this season when rebounds are even or the opponent has out-rebounded the Bison.

Offensively, the Bison are first in the GAC in assists with 207 and second in assist-turnover ratio at 1.13.

Stoddart leads the way with 14.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game as well as over a block per game. Thompson adds 14.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, while Jarius Hicklen has been excellent since returning to the lineup with 14.3 points per game.

Jaquan Simms comes in with 10.7 points per game and over three assists, while Jordan Thompson has been excellent off the bench with 8.8 points per game and over three assists. Nigel Wilcox is top 15 in the country in blocks with 24 to go with 6.9 points per game and 8.2 rebounds, and Trey Green leads the team with 15 steals and an average of nearly five points per game.

Northwestern comes in at 2-8 overall and 0-8 in the GAC, dropping eight in a row, including a 61-54 loss to SNU on Thursday night. The Bison took on a finally healthy Ranger squad in Alva and used a big second half to pull away for a 69-59 victory back in early February. Stoddart had 17 points and 12 boards in the two teams' only meeting this season.

Parrish Hewitt leads the Rangers with 14.7 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game, while RJ Mason adds 13.0 points per game. Deon Barrett comes in with 11.4 points per game, and Jack Peck averages 10.7 points per game, including a career-high 30 in his last meeting with OBU.

SNU comes in at 8-6 overall and in conference after a win over the Rangers on Thursday afternoon.

OBU is 2-1 against SNU this season, including a monster win against the Crimson Storm in their last contest, going on an 18-0 run in the final six minutes to erase a 14-point deficit and defeat SNU in Bethany for the first time since 2010. Hicklen and Simms were huge down the stretch as Hicklen finished with a career-high 22 points, taking over in the final minutes.

Adokiye Iyaye leads SNU with 18.5 points per game, while Manny Dixon pours in 14.7 points per game and nearly five boards. Karlyn Kenner averages 10.4 points per contest, and Mo Wilson II adds 7.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, along with 23 steals and 17 blocks on the season.

Tip-off for Saturday inside the Noble Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m., while Monday night's contest is set to go at 7:30 p.m.