WEATHERFORD, Oklahoma – The Ouachita men's basketball team took it to the wire but came up short, falling to Southwestern Oklahoma State 70-66 on the road Thursday night.
Ouachita (14-7, 9-6 GAC) struck first in the Thursday night matchup, but Southwestern Oklahoma State (9-11, 6-9 GAC) was quick to respond. From that point on, it was a back-and-forth battle between the Tigers and the Bulldogs. The two teams totaled 11 lead changes and six ties over the first half. Ouachita led by as many as six points at the 9:16 mark and held a lead until the 3:35 mark. SWOSU retook the lead with 3:17 to go in the half and pushed it out to six points just before the buzzer. The Tigers went into halftime trailing 38-32.
To start the second half, Ouachita cut SWOSU's lead down to just one point within the first five minutes. After another five minutes, the Tigers took their first lead of the half, going up by one at the 9:55 mark. The Bulldogs answered and retook the lead a minute later. Over the next five minutes, the Tigers would tie the game four times, but each time Ouachita tied things up, Southwestern responded to take the lead. The Bulldogs held on over the final three minutes and the Tigers fell by the final score of 70-66.
Hobert Grayson, the reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Week was second in scoring with 13 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds, the most by a Tiger in a single game in the NCAA era. Grayson is the first player in the GAC to grab 20 boards since 2022. The Gonzales, Louisiana native's 20 rebounds and 13 points combine for Grayson's 13th double double of the season.
Shaun Williams, the reigning GAC Offensive Player of the Week led all scorers with 15 points.
PJ Neal recorded a Ouachita career-high 11 points and led the team in assists with four.
Gavin Snyder scored 10 points to round out the Tigers in double figures.
Ouachita now sits in a three-way tie for fourth place with seven games remaining in the regular season.
The Tigers will look to bounce back on Saturday when they take on the Rangers on Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, February 8 at 3 p.m. in Alva, Oklahoma.
