Bison Break Cavaliers' Hearts

January 25, 2007

Oklahoma Baptist University broke St. Gregory's heart in the men's version of the Holy War on MacArthur Street Thursday, knocking off the Cavaliers at SGU, 63-60.

OBU kept the Cavaliers in the game with poor free throw shooting right up to the final 2:17 when the Bison hit their last six, including two crucial makes by Evan Grace with 5.6 seconds to play for the three-point advantage. Tre Griffin and Kortney Smith also canned important charity shots late. Those six shots pushed OBU above the 60 percent mark for the game.

An exciting first half saw St. Gregory's battle from seven down with 2:17 left to take a 34-32 at the first half horn with a 9-0 run. The last shot came from Ryan Wilson and made for the ninth lead change of the first half.

After a pair of lead changes, St. Gregory's built up a 54-47 lead with 7:57 left in the game, fueled by four points by Ernie Anderson during an 8-2 run. The Cavaliers led for seven minutes after the 11-minute mark and for 12 of the 20 minutes in the second half.

Mike Fraser scored on a layup and Kortney Smith knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to 54-52.

Wilson scored for a 56-52 SGU lead, but the Bison got back-to-back lay-ups by Mike Fraser and Julius Hurd, both on feeds from Tre Griffin, to start an 8-0 run. That streak, which included the four free throws by Griffin and Smith, gave OBU a 61-56 lead.

Kordell Hightower hit two free throws and then made a big steal and a basket to cut the Bison lead to 61-60.

Grace was fouled lightly bringing the ball into the front court and calmly sank both free throws between SGU timeouts.

Patrick Jones blazed up a three-pointer at the horn that drew the far side of the iron and fell away to keep the Bison happy.

Fraser led the Bison with 17 points and 10 rebounds. OBU also got 10 points and 11 boards from Hurd and 11 points from Smith. The Bison out-worked SGU on the boards, 38-20.

The Bison (11-6, 4-3) will play at Oklahoma City Saturday at 8 p.m.