SHAWNEE - Fresh off of clinching the GAC Western Division Championship on Monday night, their first conference title of any kind since the 2011-12 season, the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team will look to build on their already strong resume as they travel to Ada on Thursday to battle East Central before concluding the regular season against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Noble on Saturday.
Saturday's game will be on the Bison Sports Network on theÂ
OBU YouTube channel featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play and Scott Wanish on color commentary. The game will also be featured on theÂ
Bison Radio Network across the state of Oklahoma and worldwide on the iHeartRadio app. On Thursday, the OBU's contest will be on the Bison Radio Network with Miller and Wanish.
The Bison will be the No. 1 seed for next week's GAC Tournament and will host the GAC Quarterfinal and GAC Semifinals inside the Noble Complex. The quarterfinals will be set for Wednesday, March 5th and with a win the semifinals will be Friday, March 7th with both games set for 7:30 p.m. tip times. The GAC Championship Game could also be inside Noble, but that will be determined.
OBU defeated three-time and defending GAC regular season champion Southern Nazarene on Monday night, 85-76, to earn the division championship. An incredible accomplishment for a program that was 12th in the conference when SNU began its run.
OBU is also one of eight teams under consideration for a spot in the six team South Central Region. OBU was an at-large bid selection a year ago in the Central Region and was set to take on No. 1 Northwest Missouri State until COVID-19 halted and canceled the NCAA Tournament.
The Bison look to return and make it two straight appearances in the national tournament.
Defense has been a key for most of the season for OBU, but opponents have began to find some success despite the Bison making it difficult, shooting 48 percent or better in three of the last four games including two games over 50 percent in East Central and Southern Nazarene. OBU is still 34th in the country in field goal percentage defense at 41.8 percent.
The Bison also get it done defensively in other ways as they are 18th in the country in total blocks with 59 behind
Nigel Wilcox (28) and
Harrison Stoddart (24) and first in the GAC in total rebounds with 587, still sitting at a remarkable 12-1 overall when out rebounding their opponent.
OBU led the conference in assists per game with 14.9 and have moved into second in the GAC in 3-point field goals made with 149. Despite opponents getting a tick up in shooting percentage, OBU has also been red hot offensively, shooting 47 percent or better in four straight games and going 111 of 221 (50%) during that stretch with 38 3-pointers.
Jarius Hicklen leads the team with 15.6 points per game and has scored 20 or more points in two straight games including matching a career-high 23 against Northwestern before following that up with 20 against SNU. Hicklen is 12 of 19 (63%) in his last two contests with six made 3-pointers and has scored 20 or more points in five of the 11 games he's played in.
Harrison Stoddart and
Brantly Thompson each add 14.3 points per game with Stoddart adding 7.7 rebounds per game and 24 blocks, good for 13th in the nation. Thompson has 4.3 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per contest and comes off a 20 point showing against the Crimson Storm Monday night.
Jaquan Simms pours in 10.3 points per game and 3.5 assists while
Nigel Wilcox adds 7.7 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 28 total blocks, good for eighth in the country. Wilcox scored a season-high 17 points, matching his highest total in a Bison uniform, in the win over SNU.
Jordan Thompson adds 7.9 points per game while
Trey Green averages 5.1 points per game, but has come on as late, going 8 of 12 (67%) from behind the arc in his last four games to go with a team leading 16 steals. Green is a sizzling 20 of 35 (57%) from beyond the arc this season.
East Central comes in at 8-7 in the GAC and in the conference, just 0.5 games back on SNU for second place. The Tigers are the only team to seem to have the Bison's number, going 2-1 over OBU, the only team with two wins over the Bison with both shockingly coming inside the Noble Complex.
However, OBU got a win over ECU in Ada back in early February, defeating the Tigers 63-58 behind 17 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and four blocks from Wilcox.
Jalen Crutchfield leads the way with 15.2 points per game while Tylor Arnold adds 14.3 points per game. Josh Apple adds 12.9 points per game and 7.1 rebounds while Jakeem Akers adds 11.1 points per game.
The Bison will welcome Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday for Senior Day as OBU will honor three seniors in
Brantly Thompson,
Harrison Stoddart, and
Jaquan Simms.
The Bulldogs are 7-8 overall and in conference and just 1.5 games behind SNU for second. However, OBU is 3-0 over the Bulldogs this season as Stoddart has dominated SWOSU as he has averaged 23.0 points per game with 9.3 rebounds on 25 of 36 (69%) shooting and nine 3-pointers.
SWOSU is led by the ultra athletic Damion Thornton with 16.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game while Tauriawn Knight adds 15.7 points per game. Kamden Gipson averages 12.0 points per game while Bralyn James sits at 11.0 points per game.
Tip-off on Thursday is set fo 7:30 p.m. from the Kerr Activities Center while Saturday's contest is set to start at 4:00 p.m
