Bison Sweep SGU 76-61
February 19, 2008
For a few moments, it looked like St. Gregory's would take Shawnee bragging rights away from Oklahoma Baptist, but order was restored and the Bison captured a season sweep with a 76-61 win Tuesday night.
"We see these guys at Wal Mart and talk a little. It makes you want to win this game," said OBU junior Aaron Perez, who led the Bison with 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
St. Gregory's made its first six shots, including three three-pointers by Kyle Lulko, to take a 20-9 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
Timeout was called and the Bison responded.
"We kept our composure, but more than that, the guys responded after the timeout," said Bison coach Doug Tolin. "They have to go out and get it done and they did."
OBU scored the next eight points to get within 20-17. Still down six with 6:30 left in the half, the Bison went on a 10-1 run with scoring from five OBU men to take a 34-31 lead with 2:56 left in the half.
That balance was the theme of the night. Five Bison scored in double figures. Following Perez were Brent Jones and Al Moore with 15 each, Evan Grace with 14 and Brian Hill with 12.
"I felt like we were getting plenty of good shots and a reasonable amount of stops," Tolin said. "You look at the stat sheet and it's a good-looking stat sheet. That balance in scoring is part of what makes it look so good."
Perez and Hill scored the last seven points of the half to put OBU ahead 41-33 at intermission.
The Cavs got within a basket with 12:47 left in the game, but never put two field goals together the rest of the night. OBU got all the momentum it needed when Moore got a feed from Hill and did a reverse dunk when a SGU player tried to cut him off in stride to the basket.
The dunk ignited an 8-0 run, capped by an acrobatic floater by Jones for a 69-57 lead with 5:42 left.
Hill's free throw with 2:06 left gave OBU the final margin and the biggest lead.
The win puts OBU in a tie for fourth place with four games left.
"We need to keep winning," Perez said. "To go to the tournament, we need to win every game. It's important for our team, especially our seniors."
A big test awaits Thursday when the Bison travel to co-leader Southern Nazarene for an 8 p.m. tip-off.
OBU is now 19-7 overall and 11-7 in the SAC.
Oklahoma Baptist 76, St. Gregory's University 61
Oklahoma Baptist
Aaron Perez 6-9 5-5 17; Brent Jones 6-10 3-6 15; Al Moore 5-10 5-5 15; Evan Grace 5-10 0-0 14; Brian Hill 4-7 4-5 12; Justin Williams 1-7 0-0 3; Charles Carter 0-0 0-0 0; Jamar Fortune 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Parker 0-0 0-0 0; Mirko Vojinovic 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 27-53 17-21 76.
St. Gregory's University
Patrick Jones 6-10 7-7 19; Kyle Lulko 6-8 0-0 17; Ryan Wilson 3-6 5-5 11; Cha'son Holmes 2-7 1-3 6; Derek Washington 1-4 2-2 5; Josh Coulter 1-5 0-0 3; Alex Moorehead 0-0 0-0 0; Eric Landess 0-0 0-0 0; Ade Olanrewaju 0-0 0-0 0; Brooks Robbins 0-0 0-0 0; Dwonne Wilburn 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Kelly 0-0 0-0 0; Oren Mansky 0-3 0-0 0; Sam Stuart 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 19-43 15-17 61.
Oklahoma Baptist 41 35 - 76
St. Gregory's University 33 28 - 61
3-point goals-Oklahoma Baptist 5-12 (Evan Grace 4-6; Justin Williams 1-5; Brent Jones 0-1) , St. Gregory's University 8-14 (Kyle Lulko 5-6; Josh Coulter 1-3; Derek Washington 1-2; Cha'son Holmes 1-1; Ryan Wilson 0-1; Oren Mansky 0-1) . Fouled out--Oklahoma Baptist-None, St. Gregory's University-Ryan Wilson. Rebounds-Oklahoma Baptist 33 (Aaron Perez 8) , St. Gregory's University 21 (Cha'son Holmes 6) . Assists-Oklahoma Baptist 15 (Brent Jones 4; Al Moore 4) , St. Gregory's University 9 (Patrick Jones 2; Ryan Wilson 2; Cha'son Holmes 2) . Total Fouls-Oklahoma Baptist 13, St. Gregory's University .