SHAWNEE, Oklahoma – It was a tale of two halves as the Ouachita men's basketball extended their winning streak to six after a 71-59 win over first-place Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday night.
Ouachita (11-4, 6-3 GAC) struck first in the weeknight contest after just 12 seconds of action. After the Tigers held the lead for the first four minutes, Oklahoma Baptist (10-5, 7-2 GAC) got out in front with its first lead of the game. The next 10 minutes saw both sides trade single-possession leads and post two ties before the Bison went up by six with just over five-and-a-half minutes left in the half. Ouachita tried to tie things back up, but Oklahoma Baptist held onto their lead and the Tigers went into the halftime break trailing 23-29.
The Tigers found a spark during the intermission as they came out and tied the game with a 6-0 run over the first 1:09 of the second half. And the race was on; both teams began going blow-for-blow, with each side looking for a foothold. After four minutes of back-and-forth action, the Tigers found just that as they retook the lead, dug their heels in, and started to go on the offensive. Ouachita pushed its lead out to seven points by the 12-minute mark. Oklahoma Baptist tried to close the gap once again, but the Tigers kept them at least three-points away. With just under five minutes to go, Ouachita's lead hit the double-digit mark. The lead grew to as many as 14 points over the final four minutes and the Tigers comfortably came away with the 12-point, 71-59 win over the then first-place Bison.
Ouachita shot 35 percent from the field in the first half but followed it up with a 60 percent performance in the second half to secure the comeback win. In the second half, the Tigers more than doubled their first half scoring with 48 points.
Hobert Grayson was at the top of the stat sheet once again, this time putting up a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds for his 10
th double-double of the season. Grayson went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line and added two assists and two steals on the night.
Reggie Martin totaled 20 points of 10-of-13 shooting and nabbed a career-high six steals in the win. Martin's six steals were the most in a single game by a Tiger since Justin McCleary recorded eight in the 2016-17 season.
Shaun Williams tallied 15 points to round out the Tigers in double figures. Williams tied with
PJ Neal to lead the team in assists with four each. The St. Louis native was also second on the team in steals with four.
Tonight's win was the sixth in a row for the Tigers, their longest win streak of the season and the longest for Ouachita since winning 10 straight in the 2015-16 season. The Tigers currently sit in fourth place but are just one game out of second and two games out of first place.
The Tigers have another big matchup on the horizon as they will take on the first-place Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene on Saturday, January 18 at 3 p.m. in Bethany, Oklahoma.
