DURANT, OK – Jacob Trimble turned in one of the best receiving performances in school history, and the Oklahoma Baptist defense turned in a strong first-half effort, but the Bison were unable to hold on to a four-point halftime lead in a 40-16 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Paul Laird Field at Spend Life Wisely Stadium.

The Bison (3-5, 3-5 GAC) went to the locker room with a 10-6 lead at the half, but the Savage Storm (6-2, 6-2) scored 34 second-half points en route to a Great American Conference victory.

Things started off perfectly for OBU when sophomore safety George Getanda intercepted Southeastern quarterback Levay Duncan on the second play of the game to give the Bison the ball at the Savage Storm 38-yard line. Six plays later, Carter Lowry drilled a 47-yard field goal to give OBU a 3-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the first quarter.

The teams traded punts over the next four possessions before Southeastern put together a 10-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a Luke Hohenberger pass to Jax Sternberger from 19 yards out for the game's first touchdown. The Savage Storm missed the ensuing extra point but took a 6-3 lead with 42 seconds left in the opening frame.

After getting the ball back with 7:56 remaining in the first half, the Bison scored to go ahead on a perfect pass from Jason Ceniti to Trimble for a 74-yard strike and would take a 10-6 lead into halftime.

The tide would turn early in the second half, however, as Southeastern defensive back Kole McKnight picked off Ceniti in Bison territory and returned it 26 yards to set the Savage Storm up in great field position. Isaiah Nelson ran it in from 12 yards out just moments later to give Southeastern a 13-10 lead, and never trailed after that.

Southeastern scored again on a long run by Nelson with 2:28 to go in the third and make it 20-10.

After OBU was forced to punt on its ensuing possession, the Savage Storm scored on a wild play when wideout Dy'curian Douglas caught a pass at the Oklahoma Baptist 30 yard line, fumbled it 28 yards into the end zone, and recovered it for a touchdown.

Southeastern failed to convert a two-point attempt but led 26-10 with just seconds left in the third quarter.

After getting the ball back, Ceniti hit Trimble for 70 yards to give OBU the ball at the Southeastern five yard line to begin the fourth quarter. Ceniti found Trimble from five yards out just moments later, but the Bison failed on the two-point conversion and trailed 26-16 with 12:40 left to play.

The Savage Storm essentially put the game away on its next drive with a 10-play, 60-yard march that ended when Hohenberger connected with Sean Steens to stretch Southeastern's lead to 33-16 with 6:27 to go. The Savage Storm would tack on another touchdown when Duncan scored from a yard out with just over two minutes to go to make the final score 40-16.

OBU was limited to just 205 yards of offense, including minus-20 on the ground, while Southeastern had 305 yards on the day. Ceniti went 14-of-30 for 220 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Trimble finished with six catches for 166 yards, the third-highest single-game total in school history, and a pair of scores. 

Getanda led the Bison defense with 12 tackles, while Jordan Garcia added 10 stops. Richard Smith had two sacks to up his season total to four, and Brady Luff had seven tackles to up his team-leading total to 62.

The Bison will return home next Saturday, Oct. 31, to take on #2 Harding at 2 p.m. at Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex.