SEARCY, Ark. – Ethan Scott scored 17 points and Ricky Brown pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds, but it was not enough as East Central (18-10, 13-9 GAC) spoiled OBU's senior night in a 78-70 overtime victory on Saturday.
Oklahoma Baptist (13-15, 10-12 GAC) was ahead by six with 37 seconds remaining but saw its advantage quickly vanish as the Tigers knocked down back-to-back threes to force overtime.
In the extra period, the Bison shot 0-3 and netted one of its five free throw attempts. Conversely, ECU made four field goals and scored nine points to close out the victory.
Neither team shot well, as OBU led the two with a 40 percent clip from the field. However, the squads had no trouble from beyond the arc. Each attempted 30 threes, matching with a total of 13 makes.
The difference was turnovers. The Bison committed 15, while East Central turned the ball over six times.
Both ball clubs struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first half, posting shooting percentages under 36 percent. Despite shooting just 26.5 percent, East Central jumped out to an 8-5 lead.
The Tigers pushed the advantage as far as eight, 20-12, with 10 minutes left before OBU took over the reins after a 9-3 run that lasted 5:16.
The rest of the half saw six lead changes, capped by a Scott triple that put the Bison in front 29-25.
Second half action was the same, neck-and-neck. Early in the stanza, OBU built its largest lead of the half at 39-31. The advantage was erased after ECU scored seven points over the three minutes to trail by one.
The Bison didn't allow the Tigers a glimmer of hope until a Keyon Thomas layup flipped the lead possession arrow toward ECU with 11 minutes remaining.
Again, the teams traded advantages until timely East Central baskets forced overtime, and eventually a victory tonight.
Ethan Scott matched his career-high of 17 points to lead the Bison stat sheet. He knocked down a game-high five threes. Caleb Riggs poured in 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with four triples. He also dished out five assists.
Nigel Wilcox scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds, while D.J. Freeman and Ricky Brown finished with nine points.
Brown collected a career-best 14 rebounds, while Freeman recorded 11 boards.
Oklahoma Baptist sets its sights on the postseason with a date with No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas (19-9, 15-7 GAC) in the opening round of the GAC tournament next Thursday, March 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at Firelake Arena.
