SHAWNEE – OBU's good fortune was few and far between as Southern Nazarene (14-3, 10-1 GAC) held the Bison (10-7, 7-4 GAC) offense at bay in an 80-66 defeat inside the Noble Complex on Monday night.
Oklahoma Baptist couldn't establish a rhythm as the No. 1 defense in the country made the green and gold work for every basket.
The Bison finished with a 47.1% field goal percentage, while Southern Nazarene cleared the halfway mark at a 51.9% clip. Tonight's contest came down to who was more dominant in the painted area, and it was the team from Bethany.
SNU scored 40 points to OBU's 28 in the paint. Furthermore, Oklahoma Baptist was out-rebounded 32-25.
Still, the Bison battled till the clock hit zero.
In the opening half, OBU jumped to an 8-2 lead following a triple from point guard
Paul King. Then the Crimson Storm came rumbling back to tie the contest eight-all with 15 minutes remaining.
Southern Nazarene took the lead a few possessions, pushing its advantage as far as 12, 33-21. OBU turned the page moments later and mounted a 10-4 run to draw within a couple with two minutes left.
SNU cashed another bucket with 42 seconds remaining to take a 37-33 cushion into the break.
Despite shooting 45.8% from the floor, the Bison never gained the upper hand in the second half. Southern Nazarene visited the line 15 times to OBU's 13, netting 11 (73.3%) of its attempts on its way to the Monday night win.
Three Bison,
Paul King,
D.J. Freeman, and
Trey Doomes entered double-figure territory for points tonight.
King's 23-point performance lead the Bison, adding a team-high in assists (5). Freeman paired 17 points on 6-10 shooting with eight rebounds to flirt with a double-double.
Doomes pitched in 15, including a game-high showing at the free throw line (5-7).
Ricky Brown scored five, while
Ethan Scott and
Trey Green charted three points apiece.
Oklahoma Baptist continues its homestand on Thursday, facing off with Southern Arkansas (8-9, 4-7 GAC) at 7:30 pm inside the Noble Complex.
