November 18, 2010
It’s been six years since a non-conference team managed to defeat the Bison at Noble Complex, but Louisiana State-Shreveport managed to repeat their performance from years ago. They defeated Oklahoma Baptist University 81-80 on a free throw to end the game and snapped the Bison’s home winning streak.
“We’ve got to play 40 minutes and make free throws,” Head Coach Doug Tolin said. “We’ve got to execute better and not just hope things go well.”
Things were going well for the Bison in the first half, and they were enjoying a comfortable 46-35 lead going into halftime. LSUS came out for the second half firing, and went on a 16-2 run that the Bison never completely overcame. OBU never trailed by more than seven, but never retook the lead.
LSUS has a deep squad and made a strong showing, but OBU had their chances to win the game.
The Bison managed to get two defensive stops, but could not convert the stops into points, and ended up fouling the Pilot’s leading scorer just before time expired.
“I thought we played well in the first half, but we came out very slow in the second half,” Tolin said. “They have four starters back from a nationally ranked team last year, and added two transfers that were All-Conference players in our league last year. It just became a back and forth game and they made the last play. I thought we rebounded pretty well, but we’ve got to take care of the ball better.”
Maurice Foster and Kevin Swinton led the Bison with 20 points and 10 rebounds apiece. However, Swinton went just 4-of-13 from the free throw line, and as a team OBU was only 12-of-25 from the line. Allen Hester contributed 13 points and five assists off the bench.
Earlier in the week, OBU also faced off against Southeastern Oklahoma State and came away with a 72-64 win. Foster led the OBU offense with 17 points and shot 50% from the field. Swinton had a dozen points to go along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
“That was a game that we played against a solid, athletic team and defended well,” Tolin said. “We were in foul trouble throughout the game, but we got through it. There were some positives, but there are some things to learn from in that game as well.”
OBU will return to action this Saturday at home against Mid America Nazarene University. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
