SHAWNEE – Six Bison reached double figures as Oklahoma Baptist (2-2, 0-0 GAC) steamrolled Washburn (2-3, 0-0 MIAA) 78-63 inside the Noble Complex on Tuesday night to tally its second victory of the season.
Tonight marked the third home victory against an MIAA opponent in the Division II era, five days after earning its second versus Missouri Western on Nov. 17.
Sophomore D.J. Freeman led an inspired OBU squad with 18 points on a perfect 5-5 night of shooting. Freeman met the bottom of the net eight times from the charity stripe, a career-high, to go along with two blocks and two steals.
Paul King turned in a 14-point outing, nearly reaching a triple-double after registering nine assists and nine rebounds. The latter were career best for the sophomore out of Monroe, LA.
Trey Green lit it up from beyond the arc, cashing in on three triples en route to 13 points. It is the second game the junior has tallied at least three from deep this season, one shy of his season-high of four against Missouri Western last week.
Joshua Udoumoh, Bradley Akhile, and Trey Doomes scored 10 to wrap up the Bison in double digits. Doomes added a game-high in steals (3), while Akhile brought down six rebounds.
Both squads began nearly shooting 60 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, but OBU's success didn't come till later as the Ichabods started the game on an 11-3 run. Washburn shot 4-5 during the span, while Oklahoma Baptist went 1-3 from the field.
Then a Freeman layup sparked a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to four, 11-7, with 15 minutes remaining.
Following back-to-back King-made baskets, OBU trailed by one, but WU pressed on until the Bison broke through for its first lead at the 8:28 mark, 28-26. Oklahoma proceeded to go on a 9-1 run to garner a 35-27 advantage.
The opposition would make its way back and lead by one, 42-41 going into halftime.
Out of the break, Oklahoma Baptist kept its momentum. By the 16:40 mark, the Bison had regained the lead, 49-48, and wouldn't look back.
OBU outscored WU 31-15 and hit five triples the rest of the way, while Washburn went 0-5 from deep. Green was responsible for three of the total. Furthermore, the Bison forced eight turnovers, including five steals, and went 5-5 from the free-throw line.
Oklahoma Baptist finished with scorching percentages from the field (54.9%) and from beyond the arc (52.6%). It was the first time OBU talluied 10 three-pointers since knocking down 11 against East Central (2/26/22) a season ago.
OBU hits the road this weekend to take on West Texas A&M (1-2, 0-0 LSC) in a Saturday afternoon matchup in Canyon, Texas. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
