OKLAHOMA CITY -- The No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Bison fought off a gamed Mid-America Christian University Evangels squad 83-72 in a competitive Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Thursday night (Feb. 23) in Shawnee, Okla.
The Evangels trailed by 11 in the second half but made things interesting with an 8-0 spurt as a steal and layup by
Camilo Valencia tied the score at 58-58 at the 9:11 mark of the second half.
The Bison then regained control as Derick Echols rebounded his own free throw miss and scored to cap an 8-0 spurt that made it 66-58.
After the Bison scored four straight to go back up by six, Shorter made two free throws and then found
Darius Gregory inside for a basket to again pull the Evangels to within two with 4:24 left.
But that's where the second-ranked Bison flexed their muscle and put it away with 13 straight points over the next three minutes to close the Evangels out.
The only lead for the Evangels came on the first bucket of the game by Valencia, but the Bison quickly took command with a 13-2 spurt to lead by nine.
OBU led by as many as 12 in the opening half before the Evangels got back in and came within five on a three by Williams that made it 32-27 at the 4:12 mark of the opening half.
The Bison then went on an 8-2 run to stretch the lead back to 11, but a score from Shorter and a free throw by
Reggie Davis brought the Evangels to within 40-32 at the break.
Shorter, the SAC's leading scorer paced the Evangels with a game-high 25 points and Williams added 18. Haynes scored eight and had a team-high nine rebounds.
Emmanuel Wilson led the Bison with 18 points, while Echols had 16 to go along with a game-high 12 boards. Deangelo McIntosh chipped in with 15 points.
The Evangels will now conclude the regular season and celebrate Senior Day against St. Gregory's on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23) at 5 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
