DURANT – Oklahoma Baptist met Southeastern State's Savage Storm on Saturday in Durant. Led by freshman
Parker Stevenson, the Bison rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit and claimed a 56-54 win in Great American Conference action at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
Stevenson scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting. That included making four of the team's six 3-point shots. After Stevenson, three players scored eight points:
Madison Chambers,
Jaedyn Getman and
Catyn Graham.
Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter. The Savage Storm scored first but the Bison stayed right behind them. OBU then pulled ahead briefly, 9-6, after a three-point shot from Graham at 3:33. However, Southeastern took back the lead and ended the quarter with an 8-2 run. The hosts led 14-11 heading to the second.
The second quarter started well for the Bison.
Kennedy Large scored in the opening minutes before Stevenson made two free throws to give the Bison a 15-14 lead. After that, though, the Bison scored just six points over the final 8:37 of the period. With that, SE hit a 16-6 run and seized a 30-21 halftime advantage. OBU made just 2-of-9 in that stretch and committed a handful of turnovers too.
The third quarter showed the Bison start to come back. Stevenson was electric and scored 15 points to lead the green and gold. Her last shot gave OBU a 40-39 advantage with 1:16 left until the fourth.
Sydney Duncan and Getman also made shots as the Bison and Storm were tied at 40 heading to the fourth. OBU's offense was outstanding in the period shooting 50 percent.
The final quarter remained close as the two teams remained within three points of each other. OBU's go-ahead basket came after two offensive rebounds on one possession. After a Graham three-point miss, Stevenson corralled the rebound and later scored a layup with 55 seconds left to give the Bison the lead.
On the ensuing Southeastern possession, Stevenson secured Ashton Hackler's missed jumper to preserve victory for OBU.
Next week, the Bison host East Central on Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
