SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist returns home to begin a five-game home stretch over the next two weeks, starting with matchups with Ouachita Baptist on Thursday and Henderson State on Saturday.
Tomorrow will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the Bison and Tigers, as the series sits tied 16-all. As for the Reddies, the matchup will be the 20th all-time meeting, with the Bison holding a narrow 11-8 advantage.
Thursday's contest, slated for 7:30 p.m., will be streamed on OBUBison.com and heard on the Bison Sports Network featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play Scott Wanish on color commentary.
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a 71-63 loss to Southern Arkansas (10-6, 6-4 GAC) on Monday, where a gritty Mulerider squad pulled away late in the second half. Harrison Stoddart led the Bison with 18 points, including nine free throws and seven boards. Jaquan Simms knocked down three from deep, a part of his 11-point first half, en route to 17 total points. Burke Putnam charted 11 points while Nigel Wilcox brought down seven rebounds with six points. Brantly Thompson had nine points and a team-best three steals, while D.J. Freeman scored the only bench points for OBU with two.
Senior Jaquan Simms recorded back-to-back double-digit scoring games over the past two contests, averaging 21.0 PPG. In this span, he tallied nine threes and shot 60.8 percent from the floor, including a 52 percent mark from the arc. His best outing came in OBU's victory against Arkansas-Monticello, where he went for 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Simms knocked down a season-best 6-of-8 from downtown, two shy of his career-high of eight notched in 2020.
On Monday versus Southern Arkansas, Simms finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including three triples. The guard averages 11.8 PPG and leads the Bison from deep with 39 three-pointers. In his career, including a previous stop a Limestone College, Simms totals 232 triples. He is at 1,603 points with an overall average of 12.5 PPG as far as total points.
Harrison Stoddart is on the brink of hitting career milestones in blocks and rebounds, compiling 599 boards and 149 denials with the Bison. Stoddart remains fourth all-time in the OBU record books for blocks, 29 behind Charles Carter's (2008-09) mark of 178. He is also the active career leader in points for Oklahoma Baptist, ranking 20th all-time with 1,312 points. Furthermore, he is three starts away from 100 career starts in the green and gold, totaling 118 games played.
Oklahoma Baptist remains in sole possession of first place in the Great American Conference, boasting an 8-3 record in league play. The Bison will have to be nearly perfect down the stretch as their upcoming schedule features a third-place Henderson State (7-4 GAC) and a Southern Nazarene (6-4) squad riding a seven-game winning streak. The outcome of the remaining schedule will also determine where OBU will stand in the Central Region rankings, as the Bison are currently ninth, one spot behind the Savage Storm of SEOSU.
Ouachita Baptist enters Thursday 4-13, including a 2-9 conference record, landing the squad last in the conference. The Tigers have struggled on the defensive side, as their opponents hold a 75.8-70.1 PPG advantage this season.
Ma'Darius Hobson is the Tiger's leading scorer, averaging 15.5 PPG at an efficient 45.5 field-goal percentage. Hobson heads the squad with 88 rebounds, 27 steals, and ranks third in assists (25). He has reached double-digit points in all but two games this season, including one double-double against Oklahoma Baptist. Hobson ranks within the top-five in the conference in free-throw percentage, ringing true on 33-of-40 (82.5%) attempts from the charity stripe.
Following Hobson in scoring is Kendarious Smith, who averages 12.9 PPG. Smith has only competed in 8-of-15 games, reaching double-digits in five. Sophomore Tylar Haynes is the squad's leader in blocks, totaling nine, and is second in steals (17). Haynes rounds out the Tiger's double-digit scorers averaging 10.4 PPG at a 53.9 field-goal percentage.
Ouachita Baptist is led by long-time head coach Dennis Nutt, who is in his 11th season with the Tigers. Nutt owns a 214-220 overall mark, including a 142-144 record at OUA, and is the second-winningest coach in the school's history.
Henderson State sits at 11-6, including a 7-4 conference record, before meeting a Southern Nazarene on Thursday for the second consecutive time.
The Reddies are outscoring their opponents 1172-144, averaging 68.9 PPG, and lead the GAC in steals(141). Their scoring, one of the most balanced in the league, is led by senior Malik Riddle. He averages 10.8 PPG, while the remaining lineup averages single digits, and leads the team with 21 triples. Yuri Swinford ranks no. 1 in rebounds, totaling 87, and is scoring 8.0 PPG. Xavier Davenport (7.9), Alvin Miles (7.6), and Tomislav Miholjcic (7.3) follow up averaging over 7.3 PPG.
HSU is led by head coach Jimmy Elgas, who is in his seventh season with the Reddies. Elgas owns a 102-80 overall mark with Henderson State.
The last time the two squads met, Oklahoma Baptist prevailed victorious 83-78, playing almost exclusively with six players. Burke Putnam and D.J. Freeman had monster games, scoring 28 and 18 points. Putnam was 9-of-14 (64.2%) from the floor and grabbed seven boards, while Freeman went 6-of-7 (85.7%).
