SHAWNEE – Fresh off their fourth straight win, Oklahoma Baptist returns to play on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. for a matchup at Southern Nazarene (5-5, 0-4 GAC) and Saturday against Northwestern Oklahoma State (9-4, 4-3 GAC) at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday night's game will be the 112th all-time meeting between SNU and OBU, with the Bison maintaining a 64-47 series lead over the Crimson Storm. As for Northwestern, the matchup will be the 131st meeting, with the Bison holding a 74-56 advantage over the Rangers.
Tomorrow will be streamed live on SNUAthletics.com and Saturday on OBUBison.com. Each contest will be on the Bison Sports Network featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play and Scott Wanish on color commentary.
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a 77-71 victory over Ouachita Baptist, extending their winning streak to four, on Tuesday in Arkadelphia. Four Bison reached double figures for the second consecutive contest. The Bison held Ouachita to a 45 percent shooting clip, including a 7-of-22 tally from three-point range, and forced 12 turnovers. OBU knocked down 10 triples, one less than their season high, to remain undefeated on the road in conference play. The victory marked the four straight game Oklahoma Baptist has scored 77 or more points.
Senior forward Harrison Stoddart has officially made his return. In his second game back from injury, Stoddart scored a season-high 20 points to spearhead OBU to a 77-71 win over Ouachita Baptist on Tuesday night. The Edmond, OK native knocked down six triples, tying his career-best from deep, set back in 2019 against East Central. Stoddart now totals 151 career three-pointers.
Burke Putnam continues to head the OBU scoring attack, recording a GAC-best 21.7 PPG, which is 19th in Division II. Putnam leads the team in steals (19) and assists (43), while ranking second in rebounding (86). He is shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and has reached double digits in all but one game this season. In eight games of action, teammate Brantly Thompson is up to 13.5 PPG, including 20 three-pointers. The senior is second on the team in assists (34) and has shot a scorching 10-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Southern Nazarene enters Thursday 5-5, including a 1-5 record in the Great American Conference. The Crimson Storm have not played a game since Dec. 18, as all their matchups have been postponed due to COVID-19 complications. The Storm's last victory came against Great Lakes Valley Conference affiliate, Drury University. SNU topped the Panthers 75-64, courtesy of a 29-point performance from freshman Tyler McGhie.
In only two games of action, freshman Tyler McGhie averages 27.0 PPG, scoring 25 and 29 in those contests. McGhie totals 12 threes, shooting at a 54.5 percent clip, ranking him fourth on the team. Jalen Lynn has participated in all games, averaging 12.0 PPG, while Adokiye Iyaye is at 15.0 PPG in eight. Iyaye, the reigning GAC Newcomer of the Year, leads the Storm with 18 triples and shoots 40.2 percent from the field. Point guard Xavier Bryant rounds out SNU's double-digit scorers, averaging 11.3 PPG. He is the team's leader in steals (23) and assists (48).
Northwestern is currently 9-4, including a 4-3 conference tally. The Rangers rank third in the conference, locked in a tie with Henderson State. They'll face Southwestern Oklahoma State before traveling to Shawnee on Saturday for their matchup with the Bison.
The Rangers are on a two-game winning streak, most recently besting the Ouachita Baptist Tigers 83-67 in Alva last Saturday.
NWOSU has one of the deepest lineups in the GAC, as five Rangers average double-digit points this season. Larry White, their leading scorer, is at 13.6 PPG and has shot 59.6 percent from the field. Senior Bubba Furlong averages 11.8 per contest and leads the conference with 33 blocked shots.
