ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita's eight-game win streak came to an end Thursday night in a 67-63 loss to Oklahoma Baptist, who escaped a late surge to hand the Tigers their first Great American Conference loss of the 2025-26 season.
The Tigers pounced to an early 7-0 lead, capped by a corner three from sophomore Crew Flowers. After the Bison answered back, freshman Jaxon Conley kept the Tigers rolling by using a screen to drive inside and finish at the rim, then Conley connected on a wide open corner three to extend the lead to 12-4. The Bison leveled the score at 15 apiece after junior Terry Conner Jr. buried a corner three. The Tigers reclaimed the lead after Conley swiped a steal, then fired an assist to senior Devon Hancock for a tough, contested layup in transition.
Oklahoma Baptist retaliated by leaning on its size and feeding the rock inside to take control, while also going to work on the offensive glass. Erik Madrid tipped in a putback to give the Bison their first lead at 21-20. The towering 7-foot-2 sophomore came off the bench and tipped in a trio of putbacks to shift the momentum. Madrid finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, including six offensive boards to earn a handful of second chance opportunities.
Neither team led by more than one possession for the rest of the first half. Hancock drilled a corner three off an inbound pass to retake the lead for the Tigers, but Oklahoma Baptist senior Joshua Udoumoh responded with a corner three in the final seconds to give the Bison a 28-27 halftime edge.
Ouachita junior Christian Parks opened the second half crashing the glass to tip in a putback and retake the lead for the Tigers, but that would become the final time Ouachita would hold an edge for the rest of the game. Coner, the second-leading scorer in the GAC, paced the Bison with 22 points. He was the only Bison to make a basket in the final six minutes of action and scored eight of their final 11 points.
Despite trailing by 11 with under five minutes left to play, Ouachita refused to fold and went on a 10-0 scoring run over a two-minute stretch to chip away at the deficit and rally back within striking distance. Flowers nailed a second-chance 3-pointer from the right wing, then Hancock pushed the pace and dished an assist to senior PJ Neal for an open layup. Flowers led the Tigers with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor.
After Parks tipped in another putback, Hancock buried a pull-up mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to 64-63 with just 12.9 seconds left to play. Hancock finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
The Tigers made it tough for the visitors to get the ball in play, but errors on both ends of the floor granted extra free throws to the Bison. A flagrant foul was called on the Tigers attempt to intentionally foul, then a Ouachita deadball turnover denied any chance for a miracle as Oklahoma Baptist closed it out at the free throw line.
The Tigers dropped to 12-3 and 8-1 in the GAC, while the Bison improved to 13-2 and extended their own win streak to four games. Oklahoma Baptist entered Thursday's game ranked 27th nationally in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll, just outside the top 25.
Ouachita has a chance to respond with a statement on Saturday against No. 14 Southern Nazarene. The men's game is scheduled to follow the women's game, with tip-off set for 3 p.m.
