Weatherford, Okla. – The Tigers were unable to hold on to an early double-digit lead as they fell to Southwestern Oklahoma State 67-61.

Morris Talbert led the way for the Tigers with 13 points. Trey Harris contributed with 12 and Allie Freeman added 11.

For Southwestern, Damion Thornton led all scorers with 25. Kamden Gipson and Dominique Primer put up 14 and 13 respectively.

Ouachita jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first six minutes, but it quickly evaporated once Southwestern regrouped out of a timeout. The Bulldogs grabbed their first lead at 18-17 on an emphatic dunk by Damion Thornton. The rest of the first half was back and forth as Ouachita went into the locker room down 31-29.  Neither team could find their footing from the field as both teams shot near 30 percent.

The same pace of play picked back up in the second half as both teams continued to clamp down defensively. The second half was a back and forth affair as things would come down to the final few possessions.

Down three with 30 seconds left, the Tigers began to trap in the backcourt, but the deficit was too steep. The Bulldogs knocked down their free throws to increase the lead to close things out at 67-61. Both teams shot around the same percentage and turned it over the same amount, however, the Bulldogs made 10 more free throws than the Tigers.

Ouachita fell to 6-6, 3-4 in conference play, while Southwestern Oklahoma State improved to 7-6, 3-4 in conference.

The Tigers will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11 on the road against Northwestern Oklahoma State. The game will start at 3 p.m. To stay up to date on all things Tiger basketball, stay tuned to obutigers.com.