BETHANY, Okla. - In building a basketball program under Jason Eaker, the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team has been through plenty of ups and downs for the third-year head coach.
And as the program begins to reach new heights at the NCAA Division II level, there has been one hill the Bison had yet to overcome.
The Sawyer Center in Bethany, Oklahoma.
The Bison had lost seven straight road contests to perennial GAC power Southern Nazarene dating back to 2010.
On Monday night in Bethany, OBU trailed by double digits for most of the contest and faced a 14 point deficit with under 6:30Â to play in the game. It seemed as if it was business as usual, just another blowout win for SNU over OBU inside the Sawyer.
However, the Bison flipped a switch and went on a massive 18-0 run for the next five minutes to overtake the lead and hold off any sort of late-game heroics to leave Bethany with a stunning 60-57 victory over the Crimson Storm.
It was gritty, it was tough, it showed guts, and it felt so good as an elated Bison squad raced off the floor at the sound of the buzzer.
The Bison had a tough night shooting the ball for most of the contest, going 18 of 49 (37%) from the field and 9 of 25 (36%) from deep. On the other side, SNU was also 18 of 49 and was 9 of 26 (35%) from deep.
One of the biggest factors in the contests was free throws as OBU finished 15 of 16 (94%), including clutch ones down the stretch, while the Crimson Storm were just 12 of 21 (57%) from the line. OBU held a 34-31 rebounding advantage and turned it over 14 times to SNU's 12.
The first half could not have gone more poorly for OBU, only going 6 of 22 from the field. Meanwhile, SNU was on fire, going 13 of 26 (50%) with six 3-pointers.
SNU jumped out to a 5-1 lead as OBU could not buy a basket. Their first field goal finally came at the 14 minute mark when Jordan Thompson found a crease for a lay in to trail 5-3.
Southern Nazarene would open up the lead to 12-3 before Jaquan Simms knocked down a 3-pointer to stop the run. Every bucket was tough for OBU as SNU continued to find open shots and bury them to open up a 25-12 lead with under five to play in the half.Â
Jarius Hicklen got the OBU offense rolling as he scored the final seven points for OBU including a 3-pointer in the final minute, but SNU knocked down a three at the buzzer to take a controlling 33-19 lead at the break.
OBU began to chip away at the deficit early in the second half, getting it down to six points after back-to-back 3-pointers from Simms and Jordan Thompson. SNU built it back to nine before another Simms three moved it back to six. OBU had possession with 12 minutes to play, but a turnover led to fastbreak points and got the SNU offense rolling again.
Despite struggles from the field in the second half, the Crimson Storm got to the line and slowly built their lead back up, getting back it back to 14 points at 52-38 with 7:58 to play.
From there, the tide turned.
Hicken got it started with a 3-point play on a strong drive and finish with 6:30 left. After a turnover by SNU, Hicklen struck again with a step-back 3-pointer to cut it down to eight at 52-44. Trey Green would come away with a big steal which led to a driving reverse lay-in from Simms to make it a six point game
After another stop by the OBU defense, Simms buried an open 3-pointer to make it a three point game. Out of a timeout, Hicklen would come off a ball screen and hit his third 3-pointer in the span, this time from the top of the arc, to tie the game.
Missed free throws on the other end led to a Hicklen lay in to give OBU their first lead of the game at 54-52, igniting the bench. Hicklen would take another empty SNU possession and turn it into a foul and two made free throws to push the lead to four with one minute to play.
SNU knocked down a 3-pointer to keep it a one possession game, but Nigel Wilcox would go a perfect 4 of 4 at the line to keep OBU ahead by three. The Crimson Storm's final possession came up short and OBU completed the comeback with the amazing 60-57 victory.
Hicklen scored 23 points off the bench on 6 of 9 shooting and three 3-pointers to go with five rebounds while Simms added 19 points on five 3-pointers and six boards. Brantly Thompson scored six with four rebounds despite fouling out, while Wilcox scored five points with seven rebounds.
Green did not get in the scoring column but had three steals on the night while Harrison Stoddart had five rebounds. Jordan Thompson added five points off the bench.
Adokiye Iyaye led SNU with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Manny Dixon and Karlyn Kenner each had 11.
OBU moves to 9-3 overall and 9-2 in the GAC and has won eight in a row. They return home to the Noble Complex on Thursday as they welcome in East Central. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be carried on the Bison Sports Network.
