SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist returns to Shawnee on Thursday for a two-game home stand inside the Noble Complex. OBU will take on Henderson State tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. before a matchup with Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Each game will be streamed on the Bison Sports Network and heard on the Bison Radio Network with the play-by-play commentary of Todd Miller and Scott Wanish.
OPENING TIP-OFF
The Bison met both teams earlier this season, collecting an 87-72 win over Ouachita Baptist before falling 82-77 against the Reddies. The victory over OUA moved OBU's all-time record versus the Tigers to 19-17, while the tally with Henderson dropped to 12-10, advantage Oklahoma Baptist.
LAST TIME THEY MET
OBU's Jan. 4 win versus Ouachita was its second-largest margin of victory against a GAC opponent this season. The highest was a 24-point win over Harding on Jan. 13.
A 51-point second half guided the Bison to victory after trailing 45-36 at intermission. Oklahoma Baptist shot 48.4 percent from the floor in the half and held the Tigers to just 29.4 percent shooting. In the opening stanza, OUA shot 54.8 percent, a 25.4 percent decrease. Furthermore, OBU went 21 of 27 (season high) from the free throw line and committed the least fouls of the year (9).
Four Bison reached double figures, led by Terry Coner Jr.'s 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Nathan Wilson posted season highs in points (20) and free throws (6-8), while Daniel Ransom paired 13 points with 12 boards to earn his second double-double of the year. Trevin Wade rounded out the bunch with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
Despite outscoring the Reddies late in their first matchup, OBU couldn't pull out a win at Henderson in round one. The Bison scored 37 points to HSU's 49 in the closing half while shooting 40.0 percent. Meanwhile, Henderson nailed 57.5 percent of its attempts. Additionally, Oklahoma Baptist turned in its worst performance from the charity stripe all year (3-12).
Ricky Brown paced OBU with a 25-point outing that included five triples. Since then, Brown has added two more games with five three-point makes. Coner scored 19 points while Wade garnered his lone double-double (11 pts, 10 ast) of the season.
RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
Wade broke the Division II OBU record for steals in a game on Saturday against Southwestern Oklahoma State. He tallied seven steals to go along with 15 points and five rebounds. It was the most steals by a Bison since Ricky Brown tied the previous record with five against Arlington Baptist earlier this season, a feat he accomplished one other time in his career on Bison Hill (5 vs. SE - 12/10/22). In fact, Coner also matched the record against Minnesota Crookston on Nov. 11.
Three others have recorded five steals in the DII era, including Wade's older brother, Antonio Wade (2019). This season, Wade's 26 steals (1.6/gm) rank 11th in the Great American Conference.
DANIEL'S RISE
Ransom scored the third-most points on the team last week (25), averaging 12.5 points per contest on a team-best 57.9 percent shooting. He also pulled down the second-most rebounds (12).
The 6-foot-6 forward charted 14 points against SNU, his highest scoring output since a 17-point game versus Northwestern Oklahoma State on Dec. 2. He nailed six of his 10 field goal attempts and tallied five boards. On Saturday at SWOSU, he scored 11 points on 55.6 percent (5-9) shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Those figures marked the third time Ransom recorded 10 points and five rebounds in back-to-back games.
Ransom has the third-best scoring average on the team at 10.0 points per game and shoots 53.7 percent from the field. From beyond the arc, Ransom nets a team-best 37.8 percent (17-45) of his attempts and adds the ninth-most rebounds (109) in the GAC.
OUT THE SLUMP
Saturday's win at SWOSU was a much-needed confidence boost for the Bison, who'd lost their last three games. It was an opportunity to show they could finish a game late after losing all three games during the skid by three points or less. OBU proved that as they cemented the victory by scoring 12 points to Southwestern's five in the game's final minutes.
The win lifted the Bison's conference record to 5-7, good for a four-way tie at seventh place. With 10 games remaining, Oklahoma Baptist looks to make a push for the end-of-the-year GAC tournament, as only the top eight squads are admitted.
SCOUTING HENDERSON STATE
Henderson State holds a 6-11 overall record with a 5-7 mark in the GAC and is tied alongside OBU in seventh place. The Reddies have lost its last three, falling against East Central (77-78), Ouachita Baptist (85-91), and Southern Arkansas (71-72).
HSU shares the sentiments of OBU, as all but one of their GAC losses have come by six points or less. In fact, three were lost by one point.
Henderson has the 10th-worst scoring defense in the league (75.6 ppg) but boasts the second-best scoring offense (78.4 ppg). The Reddies have scored at least 70 points in nine of 12 GAC contests and have done so shooting 46.7 percent from the field. HSU also takes good care of the ball, committing the least amount of turnovers per game (11.5) in the conference.
Senior guards Malek Davis and Zyon Patterson pace the Reddies' scoring with 14.6 and 14.1 points per game, respectively. Davis has the fourth-most assists (70) and ninth-most three-point makes (35) in the league. Furthermore, he has the most steals on the team (27). Patterson shoots 45.2 percent from the field and ranks third in blocks (17) in the GAC.
Commanding the painted area is Tomislav Miholjcic, whose 143 rebounds lead the conference, while his scoring average of 12.2 ppg (58.0%) ranks third for Henderson.
SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist is 6-11 on the year with a 4-8 record in conference action. Last week, the Tigers picked up a 91-85 win over crosstown rival Henderson State before falling 78-83 at Harding.
OUA scores 72.6 points per game, sixth in the league, and allows 74.3 points per game. The squad is efficient at the free throw line and from beyond the arc, owning shooting rates of 75.1 percent and 36.0 percent, respectively. Their percentage at the charity stripe ranks second in the GAC despite a league-low 14.6 attempts per game.
Scoring is balanced between Emorie Knox (13.8 ppg), Terran Williams (13.7 ppg), and Tylar Haynes (13.2). Knox was recently named the conference Player of the Week after leading the GAC in scoring (27.5 ppg), three-point percentage (72.2%), and three-pointers made (13). Additionally, he ranked third in field goal percentage (69.2%) and fifth in total assists (10). Knox's week was highlighted by a 39-point outing on 13-of-15 shooting against Henderson State.
Williams was just as elusive last week, averaging 25.0 points per game and shooting 54.5 percent (18-33). This season, Williams has six games with 19 or more points, including a 23.5 points per game average in the last four contests.
Haynes has the most rebounds (91) and the best field goal percentage (55.6) on the team. Defensively, he adds 17 steals and 11 blocks. Haynes turned in a team-high 19 points when the Tigers last faced OBU.
Rounding out Ouachita's double-digit scorers is junior guard Reggie Martin. He scores 10.7 points per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field. Also of note is guard MJ Leslie, who scored 11 points versus OBU on Jan. 4.
