SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist looks to rid itself of its recent woes in two conference matchups against Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State this week. OBU will make the short trip to Bethany tonight for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Crimson Storm before returning to the Noble Complex on Saturday as hosts of NWOSU at 7:30 p.m.
The Bison Sports Network's Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will be on the call of both games.
OPENING TIP-OFF
The Bison dropped both of its contests on the road last week in the Natural State, falling to Harding 71-61 on Thursday before suffering an 82-78 defeat against Arkansas Tech on Saturday. With the losses, OBU moved to 7-9 in GAC play, good for a tie four-way tie at sixth in the conference standings. The green and gold still have a chance to claim a spot in the end-of-the-year league tournament if they finish out the season strong.
ROCKING THE GLASS
This Bison unit has been one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country this season. OBU is pulling down 12.91 a game, a mark that is not only tops in the GAC but ranks 27th in Division II. In 14 different games this season, OBU has pulled down at least 12 offensive boards.
The team's best total came against Randall on Nov. 14 when it snagged 23. Nathan Wilson leads the green and gold individually with 54 while Joshua Udoumoh follows with 38. Furthermore, the team's current offensive rebounds per game average of 12.91 is the best mark in OBU's D2 history, besting the 2019-20's mark of 10.52.
STRAIGHT FIRE
It was well documented earlier this year the Bison's struggles at the foul line. That has changed drastically in the last four contests. OBU has made 58 out of its last 68 free throw attempts. That registers to be an 85.2 percent clip. Daniel Ransom has made 24-of-27 for 88.9 percent while Trevin Wade has posted a 13-for-15 (86.7) line. Plus, Ricky Brown has made all seven freebies. For Ransom, he is 13th in the GAC in free throw percentage (79.7).
DOWNTOWN CONSISTENCY
Ricky Brown, a senior from Valdosta, Ga., has shown his three-point shooting ability to Bison fans the last two seasons. He is a career 37.1 percent shooter from downtown. But how about this: during this 2023-24 season, Brown has made a three-ball in 16-straight games. That is tied for the second-longest streak by any OBU player since starting D2 play in 2015-16. During the 2019-20 campaign, Jaquan Simms and Harrison Stoddart each had 15-game streaks while just a season ago, then-freshman Ethan Scott connected from deep in 19-consecutive games.
DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY
These last four games for OBU have brought some very good, efficient offense. The Bison have averaged 73.8 points per game and committed a very respectable 10.25 turnovers per contest. Maybe most significant in this span has been the Bison's ability to finish off passes. In the last four, OBU has made 107 field goals and assisted on 52 of them. That's a 48.5-percent mark. Trevin Wade has tallied a team-high 17 dimes in that span while Terry Coner Jr. has added 11.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Back on Jan. 25, the Bison suffered a one-point, 73-72 loss to the Crimson Storm in Shawnee. Down eight points with over a minute to go, OBU scored seven unanswered to draw within one, but a successful Southern Nazarene closeout on a Ricky Brown three-pointer as time expired sealed OBU's fate.
Oklahoma Baptist shot 43.3 percent for the game and turned in a 16-of-22 tally at the free throw line. OBU only committed five turnovers, still its lowest mark all season, and forced 11 SNU miscues.
Coner and Udoumoh scored 16 points, highlighted by a 5-for-7 outing from the field from Udoumoh. Coner added a game-high in assists (4) and one steal. Ransom and Brown charted 14 and 11 points, respectively. Ransom shot 60.0 percent, while Brown paired three rebounds with three makes from beyond the arc.
OBU last met the Rangers in December of 2023, when they collected an 87-74 victory in Alva. Oklahoma Baptist shot 54.5 percent from the floor, their second-best field goal mark of the year, while the reserves accounted for 40 points. The Bison also knocked down 11 of its 22 attempts from three-point range, posting the second-best percentage (50%) from deep this season.
Wade led Oklahoma Baptist with 16 points on 55.5 percent shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 margin from range. He added three rebounds and two assists. Ransom and Coner scored 14 points apiece, good for 28 points of the bench. Ransom only missed one of his field-goal attempts (5-6) while adding six rebounds and two steals. Coner paired the squad's most free throw makes (4) with three boards and an assist.
Nathan Wilson brought down a team-high in rebounds (10), a part of OBU's 38-to-20 advantage in the rebounds category. Wilson added 11 points to record a double-double.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
Southern Nazarene is 10-11 overall with a 7-9 record in GAC play, tied alongside Oklahoma Baptist for sixth in the conference standings. SNU fell 88-58 against Harding last Saturday, snapping a three-game winning streak. During the three-game sweep, the Crimson Storm defeated Ouachita Baptist (81-64), Henderson State (76-72), and Arkansas Tech (67-52).
SNU is the league's third-best shooting team, boasting a 47.0 percent field goal average per game. Overall, the Storm score 71.4 points per contest, eighth-most in the GAC. Also, SNU draws 15.6 fouls and shoots 20.9 free throws per game, both second in the conference.
Sophomore guard Cam Slaymaker paces the Storm with 17.4 points per game on 42.0 percent shooting. He adds the team's most threes (31-38.3%) and free throw makes (77-83.7%).
Senior guard Benno Zecic dishes out the fifth-most assists per game in the country (6.0), good for a total of 92 (10th in DII). Zecic averages 14.1 points per contest and shoots 47.2 from the field and 39.1 percent (27-69) from range. Additionally, he leads the squad in steals (30).
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
The Rangers are third in the Great American Conference with a 10-6 league record and 12-10 overall mark. Northwestern has won four out of its last five games, most recently an 82-78 win in overtime against Ouachita Baptist.
NWOSU is the seventh-best scoring offense in the GAC, averaging 71.9 points per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. The Rangers have scored 81 points or more in its last three contests. Defensively, the Rangers force the most turnovers (14.3) per game in the GAC while limiting its opponents to a league-best 30.9 percent mark from three-point land.
Brian Free is the high-point man at 15.3 points per game. He also leads the Great American Conference and ranks 12th in the country in three-point makes per game (3.23). He has cashed 71 triples this season, 13th-most in the DII, with the 11th-best percentage (46.1%) in the NCAA.
Camron McDowell and Larry White also average double figures, scoring 14.4 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. McDowell earns his average of a 51.8 percent field goal rate while White is firing 49.4 percent from the floor. White also leads the team in rebounds (103) and steals (39).
