SHAWNEE –Oklahoma Baptist out-shot Northwestern Oklahoma State at the foul line in the GAC home opener at Noble on Saturday. By night's end, the fouls numbered 46 and the scoreboard read 70-62 Bison.
The opening quarter was marked by a strong defensive force from the Rangers who held OBU to a 0-for-4 start. OBU's first points of the game came as Ricky Brown secured a smooth reverse layup. With this, the Bison reared up their offensive game with a crowd-pleasing dunk by
D.J. Freeman. Later, two by free throws
Joshua Udoumoh closed the gap to an 8-7 Rangers lead at 14:20.
A few minutes passed before Paul King sank two freebies to give the Bison their first lead, 11-10. From here, the Bison went on a 20-7 run to seize command. With a one-point lead at 12:26, the Bison hit seven of their next 10 shots, along with several free throws to go up 31-17 at 5:05. The last of those points came via another Brown layup.
The rest of the stanza was largely marked by the two teams trading foul-for-foul – causing the 20-minute half to be drawn out. Thankfully, though, the Bison were able to sink their free throws and ride their lead out, going into the locker room with a 35-27 advantage.
The top of the second half showcased OBU's offensive rebounding skills. Brown stood out with a clean and-one off a rebound making the tally 40-29. After about ten minutes, which included 11 foul calls, both teams switched to fast-paced, foul-weary tactics. With this, the Rangers picked up on their offensive front.
Closing the gap to 48-43, NWOSU sought to take the lead with a hare-like rushed offense. But OBU took on the strategy of the tortoise and it paid off. Thanks to the Bison's defensive abilities, the offense of the Rangers was combatted with minimal fouls. Conversely, the Ranger's defense brought the Bison to the line. King hit four straight freebies around the 6:32 mark to push OBU ahead 54-46.
With five minutes left on the clock, the Bison and Rangers both turned up the heat in their offensive games. Brown earned the spotlight as the Bison's main source of points with a layup, a three-pointer and two free throws. With this, the Bison led 68-60 with 24 seconds to play. Though the Rangers rushed to beat the clock and tie the game, OBU's lead was too great to meet. With this, the green and gold won the whistle-loving match 70-62.
Brown and King led the team with 18 points while Freeman added 11.
With this, the Bison boosted their record to 4-3 and 2-0 in GAC competition while the Rangers dropped 3-2 and 0-2.
OBU will return to action in a week with a home date against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30.
