LUBBOCK, Texas - 365 days.
It had been 365 days since the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team loaded a bus to head to Maryville, Missouri, to compete in its first NCAA Tournament game.
On that day, the Bison and the rest of the college basketball world saw their season come to an abrupt end as the NCAA Tournament was canceled and the world began to change in a big way.
For 365 days, a hungry Bison team was motivated and focused to accomplish a major goal when their season could resume.
Return to, and this time compete, in the NCAA Tournament.
And despite more adversity facing the Bison basketball program yet again, including losing head coach
Jason Eaker for the weekend due to COVID-19 protocols, the Bison competed in the South Central Region Quarterfinals on Saturday evening against GAC Tournament champion Arkansas-Monticello.
Worth the wait.
OBU shined defensively as they held the Weevils to 28 percent shooting from the field while shooting close to 46 percent. The Bison knocked down seven 3-pointers and forced 13 Boll Weevil turnovers on the night.
The Bison only turned it over 12 times and held a 41-35 advantage in rebounds including 10 offensive boards. OBU absolutely dominated the paint with a 40-16 advantage and held a 27-17 edge in bench points.
Both teams had a little bit of jitters in the first four minutes, but the Bison opened up a 7-2 lead with a pair of lay ups form
Nigel Wilcox and
Jaquan Simms as well as a 3-pointer from
Brantly Thompson. The Bison extended that lead to 13-5 on a pair of free throws from
Harrison Stoddart and four straight points from
Jarius Hicklen.
UAM closed the gap to three before OBU rattled off seven straight points on a deep ball from
Jarius Hicklen and baskets from Stoddart and
Justin Tene.
The game completely flipped from there as the Bison rattled off a 17-2 run including a 10-0 run to break the game wide open. One of the big plays of the run came from
Sayvon Milton, who came away with a steal and finished strong for a 3-point play to bring the bench off its feet.
UAM would scored six straight points to get the deficit down to 13 and the Bison would take a 33-20 advantage into the break.
The Bison opened the second half on a 9-0 run thanks to lay ins from Stoddart and Simms and a big dunk from
Nigel Wilcox.
Trey Green added a 3-pointer to force a timeout and OBU was in complete control, ahead 42-20.
For the rest of the half, UAM continued to chip away at the deficit as OBU kept their 20 points lead in the first five minutes of the second half. The Weevils would inch a little closer as the half progressed, but OBU would find a big shot or a big defensive play to keep a comfortable lead.
Over the midway point of the second half, OBU went on a cold spell of almost four minutes with no points as UAM finally found their run and got the game under 10 with under seven to play. However, Wilcox knock down four straight free throws on the free throw line while
Justin Tene and Hicklen also knocked down their freebies to keep the lead at 14.
Hicklen then knocked down a short fadeaway jumper with three minutes to play to get the lead back to a comfortable 16 as the Bison cruised from there.
Thompson provided the dagger with a deep ball while Wilcox sealed the deal with an exclamation point on a ferocious two hand slam to give OBU the 76-57 win.
Thompson led the way with 17 points and five 3-pointers while Wilcox added 14 points and matched a Bison career-high with 15 rebounds and a steal. Hicklen added 16 off the bench while Stoddart had nine points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Simms scored six with four boards while Tene and
Jordan Thompson each had four points.
Miles Daniels led the Weevils with 17 points while DaJuan Jones scored 12. Denzel McDufey added 11 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
The Bison moved to 16-5 and will take on the No. 2 team in the region and host team Lubbock Christian. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. inside the Rip Griffin Arena and will be carried on the Bison Radio Network.
