ADA, Okla. – Despite wrapping up the Great American Conference Western Division and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament, the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team knew how important two more wins would be in building their resume for a potential postseason berth to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
The Bison came into the Kerr Activities Center focused and ready to play and walked away with an impressive 78-69 victory over East Central on Thursday evening, winning their 12th game in their last 13 contests as well as their seventh straight victory on the road.
OBU struggled overall from the field, going 23-of-56 (41%), but was tremendous from behind the arc, shooting 12-of-27 (44%) from deep. The Bison got to the line plenty, but only went 20-of-31 (65%).
However, the Bison defense stepped up in a big way, holding ECU to 25-of-67 (37%) from the field and 8-of-27 (30%) from deep. ECU only got to the line 17 times and shot 65 percent at the charity stripe.
OBU only turned it over 10 times while taking it away from ECU 11 times. The Bison held the Tigers to only nine assists and held a 37-18 advantage in bench points. OBU also held a 41-40 advantage in rebounds.
It was a slow start for both offenses as the game was even at four after five minutes of play.
Jordan Thompson kick-started the offense with a 3-pointer to lead 7-5 before ECU rolled back with four straight points to take the lead back.
The Bison began to heat up from deep as
Brantly Thompson and
Jarius Hicklen knocked down a pair of triples followed by a beautiful jumper from Hicklen to take a 17-12 lead.
The two teams traded buckets back-and-forth as OBU stayed ahead 30-27 with under two minutes to play in the first half. The Bison closed the half with four straight points behind
Nigel Wilcox and Hicklen to take a 34-27 lead at the break.
East Central cut it to five before OBU opened up an 8-0 run behind a pair of 3-pointers from
Brantly Thompson to take a 42-29 lead. The Tigers would cut it back down to seven before the trio of Hicklen, Wilcox, and
Harrison Stoddart knocked down shots to push the lead back to 12.
The Tigers looked for another run midway through the second half, getting it under 10 again, but Stoddart knocked down a 3-pointer and added a free throw to get it back to a 12-point game.
ECU tried to get one more run to get back into the contest and inject some life into their home crowd, getting the game under 10. However,
Jordan Thompson took the game over and knocked down three straight 3-pointers to open up a 16-point lead at 62-46.
East Central could not respond from that point as the Bison continued to lead and withstood a 12-point lead with one minute to play. The Tigers did get it under 10 very late, but never made it a two possession game as OBU left Ada with an important 78-69 win.
Hicklen finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while
Jordan Thompson added 17 points with five 3-pointers.
Brantly Thompson scored 15 on four 3-pointers and added six rebounds, while Stoddart recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaquan Simms scored eight points, and
Nigel Wilcox had four points and 10 rebounds.
Matt Garriga led ECU with 18 points on six 3-pointers, while Josh Apple scored 13 with eight rebounds. Gerren Jackson added 11 points for the Tigers.
OBU moves to 13-4 overall and 13-3 in the GAC. They will return home Saturday for the final regular season contest of the season, welcoming Southwestern Oklahoma State for Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and will be carried live on the Bison Sports Network.
