Bison Maul Manhattan Christian

Article Date

December 3, 2005

Five Bison scored in double figures as Oklahoma Baptist rolled to a 10-0 start with an 82-45 win Saturday over Manhattan Christian College.

Frank Benson scored 18 points in just under 18 minutes of action to lead the team, followed by Nick Pope and Trey Griffin with 13 apiece, Jason Bray with 12 and Justin Benson with 10. Julius Hurd finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Pope and Justin Benson led a strong bench effort for the Bison as OBU reserves outscored MCC by a 30-7 count with back-up point guard Evan Grace not suiting out. Grace rested an injured knee Saturday.

The Bison had trouble shaking the Crusaders in the early going, but led 42-18 by halftime and were never challenged in the second half.

OBU handled the rebounding well with a 49-35 advantage with Pope and Bray collecting eight apiece to go with Hurd's nine.

The Bison reached the 10-0 mark for the eighth time in school history and the fourth time since the 2001-02 season. The record is 20 wins to start the season, set by the 2001-02 squad.

Coach Doug Tolin, now with 155 wins moved out of a tie for sixth with David Sallee in coaching wins in all sports at OBU. Bob Hoffman is fifth at 242.

The Bison take two weeks off before playing Friends Dec. 17 in the Noble Complex at 3 p.m. and then host Arkansas Baptist in the final non-conference tune-up Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.