ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Behind Paul King's 27 points, Oklahoma Baptist escaped with a one-point 80-79 victory over Henderson State (8-13, 5-10 GAC) inside the Duke Wells Center on Sunday afternoon to snap its five-game losing streak.
The Bison improve to 11-10 overall with an 8-7 mark in GAC play.
The Monroe, La., product was on fire today, netting 10 field goals en route to his third-highest scoring total of the season. King added five rebounds and a tie for the team-best in assists (5).
OBU shot 50% from the floor while holding HSU to a 47.5% clip and managed a 37-28 advantage in rebounds. The Bison scored 40 points in the painted area and put on a dominating 12-4 effort in second-chance points. Furthermore, the squad forced 10 turnovers, including nine steals. Oklahoma Baptist came out shooting 51.9% from the floor, its best first-half field-goal percentage in five games.
After Henderson broke the seal of the contest, D.J. Freeman scored a bucket following an HSU miscue to put the green and gold on the board. The contest remained neck-and-neck until OBU pulled away after Ethan Scott knocked down a triple at the 13:31 mark to put Oklahoma Baptist up 12-8.
With under four minutes to play and the score on the Bison's side (34-27), the Reddies went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 36. Then a couple more baskets from either side produced a 39-39 knot going into the break.
OBU began the second half as it had it the first, hot. After eight minutes of action, the Bison distanced themselves by 11, 62-51. The advantage got up to 17 under the halfway mark following a freebie from Freeman. However, the cushion was short-lived as Henderson erased the deficit to trail by a couple with two minutes remaining. Then HSU tied the game at 76 after a clutch three-pointer from Franck Kamgain.
Freeman took the game into his hands afterward, scoring back-to-back buckets to put the Bison back ahead by two, 80-76, with 47 seconds left. On the next possession, Tomislav Miholjcic made a layup to draw the home team within two. Then King was called for a traveling violation that gave the ball back to HSU, who was fouled on a three-point attempt with one second left.
HSU's Kamgain made one of three attempts at the line before Trey Green pulled down a rebound to cement the win.
Freeman scored a career-high 23 points on 9-15 shooting, including a 4-5 showing from the charity stripe. He pulled down nine rebounds, blocked two shots, and tallied two steals.
Ricky Brown paired seven points with five boards, while Ethan Scott made two triples for six points.
Oklahoma Baptist returns to the Noble Complex for a matchup with Arkansas Tech (11-10, 9-6 GAC) on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
