SHAWNEE, Okla. - The No. 24 Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team set on their quest to capture a GAC Tournament Title beginning with the GAC Quarterfinals against the fifth seeded Ouachita Tigers. OBU used season-highs across the boards offensively as they broke five GAC Tournament records en rout to a 97-78 win over the Tigers on Wednesday evening inside the Noble Complex.
OBU will move onto the GAC Semifinals where they await the No. 2 seed in the East in Southern Arkansas.
The Bison shot a blistering 39 of 62 (63%) from the field, a new GAC Tournament record in both field goals made and field goal percentage, while knocking down 16 of 29 (55%) from beyond the arc. OBU added 27 assists as a team, a GAC Tournament record, and matched the record for most points in a game with 97.
Ouachita shot it well on the other end, going 32 of 65 (49%) from the field and 9 of 24 (38%) from deep. Both teams played clean basketball as Ouachita had a slight 10-8 advantage in turnovers while OBU held a 33-26 advantage on the boards.
The Bison bench outscored the Tigers 19-7 and held a 12-4 advantage in second chance points. OBU also had a 40-28 lead in points in the paint.
It was a fast start on both sides as each side came out firing in the first four minutes. Ouachita used the three ball early on as they were 4 of 4 to start from deep to open up a 12-7 lead despite fast starts from Brantly Thompson and Harrison Stoddart.
Thompson cut the deficit to two on a three ball while Justin Tene came up with a steal in the backcourt and raced to the bucket for a lay in to tie it at 12. Ouachita pushed the lead to four before five straight points from Stoddart and Jaquan Simms gave OBU the lead back at 17-16 midway through the first half.
The two teams would exchange buckets back-and-forth as it almost seemed like a two-on-two NBA Jam shooting exhibition between Stoddart and Thompson of OBU and Ma'Darius Hobson and Kendarious Smith of the Tigers.
Ouachita held a 29-26 lead with 6:30 to play in the half before an 8-0 run behind a three from Trey Green and buckets from Simms and Nigel Wilcox pushed the Bison ahead 34-29.
The Tigers got it back down to three at 37-34 before Simms caught fire, connecting on two straight 3-pointers while Green and Wilcox added buckets as OBU closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 48-36 lead into half, shooting 63 percent in the first half.
OBU pushed the lead to 14 on lay ins fom Wilcox and Stoddart to start the second half, but like the first half, Ouachita had the hot hand as a 13-2 run would erase the deficit and make it a one point game at 53-52.
The Bison countered with a lay in from Stoddart followed by a monstrous driving one hand slam by Jarius Hicklen that completely swung the momentum.
After a Tiger lay in, OBU rattled off an 8-0 run behind a big dunk from Wilcox and back-to-back 3-pointers from Stoddart and Thompson to lead 66-55 with under 10 to play.
Ouachita continued to look for one final push to get back, getting it down to nine with under nine to play, but OBU delivered the knockout punch, going on a 10-0 run thanks to back-to-back threes from Hicklen and points from Tene and Simms to put the game out of reach.
The Tigers would get no closer than 13 as OBU used a tremendous offensive effort to secure the win and advance in the tournament.
Simms finished with 21 points including five 3-pointers, five boards, and four assists while Stoddart added 21 points with seven rebounds, two assists, and block. Thompson added 15 points and a career-high 13 assists, setting a GAC Tournament record, as well as two steals and a block while Wilcox added 15 points on a perfect 7 of 7 shooting to go with five boards.
Hicklen scored 13 off the bench with four rebounds and three assists while Green had six points. Tenne scored four points off the bench while Graham Stiefel got in the scoring column with two.
Hobson led Ouachita with 28 on 11 of 15 shooting and five assists while Smith added 18 points. Leon Kalinic picked up 13 points.
OBU moves to 15-4 overall and will be back in action on Friday evening as they welcome in Southern Arkansas for the GAC Semifinals. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday inside the Noble Complex.
Ouachita Recap