SHAWNEE – Down their starting point guard Trevin Wade, Oklahoma Baptist (1-0, 0-0 GAC) went toe-to-toe with NSIC preseason favorite and No. 12 Minnesota Duluth in Friday night's opener of the GAC/NSIC Challenge in Shawnee.
UMD's veteran presence proved too much as the Bulldogs pulled away late to hand OBU a 77-71 defeat inside the Noble Complex.
The Bison led by as much as 10 early, a first half where Oklahoma Baptist shot 55.6 percent from the floor and knocked down a trio of threes.
Jose Waring broke the seal of the season, scoring the game's and his first points as a Bison. Thereafter, the home team's advantage reached as far as 10 (21-11) following a Ricky Brown triple to cap a 7-0 run.
Duluth eventually crept their way back into the contest after an 8-3 run to trail by two (30-28), but a few made baskets kept them out of reach. That was until UMD's Drew Blair put in a bucket to grab the team's first lead since the 18:39 mark.
Despite a few made shots for OBU, the opposition took a 42-38 advantage into the break.
Oklahoma Baptist battled back in the second half to reclaim the lead (50-49) with a Nathan Wilson triple. But again, Duluth found its way back. The Bulldogs built a 69-58 advantage with 4:21 remaining before OBU recentered their focus.
A few Daniel Ransom free throws prompted a 13-5 sprint to put the good guys within three (74-71) late in the closing half. Brown chimed in eight points during the span. The actions were to no avail as a few missed prayers solidified tonight's defeat.
The most glaring stats were UMD's advantages in the paint (46-26) and on the boards (49-35). Regardless of it all, Oklahoma Baptist posted a 45.3 field goal percentage and collected nine triples.
Brown shot a blistering 9-for-12 from the floor and 6-of-9 from range, good for 25 points. He was one point shy of his career-high in points and one short of tying his career-best from beyond the arc.
Joshua Udoumoh and Scott also reached double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Udomouh charted the team's lead from the charity stripe (5-9), while Scott netted a couple of threes.
Jose Waring and Nathan Wilson pulled down seven rebounds in their OBU debuts. Waring added six points and two steals, while Wilson scored five. Wrapping up the notables was Ransom's eight points off the bench that featured a 4-for-4 outing at the free-throw line.
The Bison return tomorrow for the event's final day against Minnesota Crookston (1-0, 0-0 NSIC) at 8 p.m. (CT).
