SHAWNEE – Following their commanding victory over Arkansas-Monticello, the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team will conclude their Arkansas road trip with a matchup against Southern Arkansas on Monday at 6 p.m.
The contest, scheduled initially for Jan. 20, was postponed due to adherence to COVID-19 protocols within the Muleriders program.
The game will be streamed live on Muleriderathletics.com and heard on the Bison Sports Network featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play and Clayton Coffman on color commentary.
This will be the 12th meeting between OBU and SAU, all occurring since Oklahoma Baptist joined the GAC. Southern Arkansas leads the all-time series 8-3 and have never allowed the Bison to defeat them in Magnolia.
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a win over UAM, where the Bison netted eleven three-pointers to best the Boll Weevils 80-68 on Saturday. OBU was led, in large part, by a 25-point performance from Jaquan Simms. He charted a season-high six from deep while teammate Harrison Stoddart was the next leading scorer with 14.
Simms ranks third on the squad in scoring this season, averaging 11.5 PPG. He also leads the team with 36 three-pointers, shooting nearly 40 percent from deep. Burke Putnam continues to head the Bison offensive attack, averaging a GAC-best 21.0 PPG. Furthermore, Putnam is No. 1 on the team in steals (24) and assists (54), while ranking second in rebounds (98). The senior guard has reached double-digits in eight consecutive games.
Southern Arkansas enters Monday with a 9-6 overall record, including a 5-4 mark in the conference play. After winning five of their first six league games, SAU sits tied for third in the GAC.
The Muleriders are led in scoring by senior Devante Brooks, who is averaging 17.5 PPG at a scorching 56.8% shooting clip. Brooks is the GAC's leading rebounder, pulling down a total of 173 thus far, which is top-10 in the country. Teammate Aaron Lucas comes in behind, averaging 13.6 PPG, and leads SAU with 45 assists.
Guard Blake Rogers has knocked down 30 triples en route to an 11.9 scoring average, while Jalen Brooks has 30 steals, which ranks second in the conference.
SAU is led by head coach Andy Sharpe, who is in his 10th season with the Muleriders. Sharpe boasts a 306-196 overall record and a 138-126 mark at Southern Arkansas.
