SHAWNEE – For the last time this season, the Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team (19-7, 16-4 GAC) took the floor inside the Noble Complex, as five seniors were recognized for their contribution to the program.
On Saturday evening, a show was put on for the Bison faithful as Burke Putnam's 38 points paced OBU to a 76-72 victory over Southern Arkansas (16-10, 12-8 GAC). It marks the 10th straight home win for Oklahoma Baptist this season.
Putnam's total was the most by a Bison this season and career-high for the senior from Tulsa. Additionally, he went 12-for-13 at the charity stripe, the second-most free-throw makes in his career.
Oklahoma Baptist understood the gravity of this game, welcoming a red-hot SAU squad into Shawnee with an NCAA Tournament trip looming in the distance. The last time the two met on the campus of OBU, Southern Arkansas beat the Bison to disrupt a trip to the conference tournament.
Today, that was not the case.
Putnam got the momentum going early for the Bison, netting back-to-back buckets to start the game with a 5-3 lead. A Harrison Stoddart free-throw drew the tally 8-3 before the Muleriders put in two straight from deep to take a 9-8 advantage.
The squads traded buckets over the next 4:59 until SAU started to pull away. Southern Arkansas built their largest lead of the half, 24-18, with 10:22 left.
OBU responded with an 8-3 run to take a 26-25, courtesy of a Putnam pull-up jumper.
Neither team broke away after that point until the 4:13 mark, where a Brantly Thompson free-throw kickstarted a nine-point pouring from OBU that lasted until the end of the half.
The Bison trotted into the locker room with a 44-39 lead at the break, capping a 5-2 Mulerider run.
Southern Arkansas threatened to take the lead 1:37 into the second half, starting the stanza off with a 5-1 run. A couple of Trey Green layups stalled their momentum, putting the good guys up 46-44.
Over the next five minutes, the lead changed five times, as OBU pulled away to build an advantage as high as nine, 63-54, with a little over seven minutes remaining.
SAU got back on track to chart six baskets, including a three-pointer and a couple of threes. This run earned them a 69-68 lead.
Unfortunately, this was the last time they'd be in front of the home team.
Putnam accounted for five of OBU's eight points to steer his team to a senior night victory in the contest's dwindling minutes.
Junior Justin Tene recorded his best performance in a Bison uniform, posting his first career double-double. Tene pulled down 10 rebounds and scored 10 on 5-of-7 shooting.
Stoddart went 4-for-6 from the field, earning 10 points while denying a team-best three shots. Teammate Brantly Thompson struggled from the field but cashed in on six of eight free-throw attempts to garner six. He added three steals while D.J. Freeman registered six points off the bench.
SAU's Devante Brooks recorded a double-double, scoring 25 and grabbing 13 boards. Jalen Brooks turned in 15 on 6-of-10 shooting and brought down a team-best 18 rebounds.
Aaron Lucas and Tyler Garrett scored 11 points, including three triples from Garrett.
Next week, Oklahoma Baptist will return to action to conclude the regular season with two GAC games on Thursday and Saturday. The Bison will take on Southeastern first and complete their trip with a trip to East Central.
