SHAWNEE – No. 24 and top-seeded Oklahoma Baptist looks to make its second consecutive appearance in the Great American Conference Championship Game as the Bison welcome Southern Arkansas to the Noble Complex for the semifinals of the GAC Tournament on Friday evening.
Friday's contest will air 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.
OBU has won 14 of its last 15 games as the Bison recently earned their first ranking in the Top 25 since joining NCAA Division II, checking in at No. 24 in the D2SIDA National Poll. OBU is also receiving the third-most votes in the NABC Poll and could crack that Top 25 if they win the GAC title this weekend.
The Bison dismantled Ouachita's defense in their quarterfinal win on Wednesday night, breaking five GAC Tournament records in the process. OBU set new marks in field goals made (39), field goal percentage (63%), points scored (97), team assists (27), and assists by an individual player as Brantly Thompson added a career-high 13 assists.
Thompson shattered his previous career-high of seven assists with 13 on Wednesday night against Ouachita. He is the first Bison to reach double-digit assists since Vladimir Nemcok did so against Harding on Jan. 6, 2018, and the first to hit 13 since Kendall Parks had 19 against Texas Wesleyan in 2014.
The three ball has aided the Bison as they have connected on a whopping 66 3-pointers in their last seven games, including 10 or more in six of their last seven games. OBU is shooting 47 percent as a team, good for second in the GAC, and is 207 of 405 (51%) in their last seven games, including four games shooting 50 percent or better. The Bison hit season highs in nearly every offensive category including 16 3-pointers and 55 percent from behind the arc against Ouachita.
The recent three ball trend for OBU has catapulted them to 17th in the country in three-point field goals made with 187. The Bison are 29th in 3-point field goals attempted with 490, and 39th in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.2. The Bison are first in the conference in field goal percentage at 47.2, and assists per game with 15.6. Defensively, the Bison are 14th in the country with 70 blocks as Nigel Wilcox is eighth with 30 and Harrison Stoddart is 15th with 26.
Rebounding continues to be key for OBU as they are 15-1 in games in which they have out-rebounded their opponents while going 0-3 this season when rebounds are even or the opponent has out-rebounded the Bison. The Bison will face one of their toughest rebounding tests against the Muleriders, who have out-rebounded their opponents in 16 of the 18 games they've played this season.
Jarius Hicklen leads the Bison with 16.8 points per game, including 43 percent from deep. Hicklen has been on a tear as he earned GAC Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season. In his last five games, Hicklen is 17 of 30 (57%) from behind the arc and has scored 20 or more in three of those contests, averaging 21.2 points per game. Hicklen set a new season high for the fourth time this season with 31 points to go with seven rebounds against SWOSU and has scored 20 or more points six times this year. He is second in the GAC with 16.8 points per game.
Stoddart adds 14.5 points per game to go with 7.9 rebounds per game and 26 blocks, good for 15th in the country. Stoddart leads the Bison with seven double-doubles this season and has recorded a double-double in five of his last six outings.
Brantly Thompson pours in 14.2 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 4.1 assists per contest, while Jaquan Simms adds 10.7 points per game and over three boards and assists.
Freshman Jordan Thompson has been a key bench piece, averaging 8.2 points while the high-flying Nigel Wilcox adds 8.8 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, and 30 blocks on the year, good for eighth in the country. Trey Green leads the defense with 16 steals on the year to go with 4.9 points per game.
Southern Arkansas comes in at 14-4 overall and sits at No. 5 in the South Central Region Rankings, just one spot below OBU. The Muleriders held off a tough East Central team that OBU is very familiar with, taking an 82-74 GAC Quarterfinal victory to set up the semifinal matchup with the Bison.
SAU is led by GAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Lucas with 16.7 points per game, 4.3 assists per game, and 2.4 steals per game. Devante Brooks adds 13.9 points per game and 8.4 boards while brother Jalen Brooks pours in 12.1 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game and over a steal per game. Blake Rogers adds 10.6 points per game.
Tipoff for the GAC Semifinal matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Noble Complex.
