Bison Hold Off John Brown

Oklahoma Baptist couldn't get the separation it wanted against a tenacious John Brown team, but it got the victory it needed Tuesday, holding off John Brown 66-60.

Though the game never carried the air of an upset, OBU didn't dispatch the cellar-dwelling Golden Eagles easily. The biggest lead the Bison enjoyed was 13 points, 25-12, late in the first half.

"I think that is a credit to them and to the Sooner Athletic Conference," said OBU coach Doug Tolin. "You can't look at them like a 2-9 team. They're better than that. And you can't be letting down on defense or they'll hit a three and stay in the game. And that's what they did."

Aaron Perez, who came off the bench to lead the Bison with a 17-point, 11-rebound effort, agreed that there wasn't much difference in JBU and the upper portion of the league standings.

"They played like they were undefeated," said Perez. "But we played hard. We're tired of losing."

The win snapped a three-game skid, OBU's longest of the season.

OBU never trailed and broke up a 6-6 tie with a 16-4 run to lead 22-10 at the 8:55 mark of the first half. Al Moore and Perez had four points each in that run. Evan Grace hit a three-pointer for that 25-12 lead that was the peak of the point spread.

OBU led 32-23 at the half, JBU staying in the game despite a 60-percent shooting performance from the field by the Bison.

OBU cooled in the second half, but not enough to let JBU get scary. The Golden Eagles got as close as six in the first five minutes of the second half, but the Bison pushed the lead back out to 10 on another Grace trey for a 51-41 lead with 7:19 left.

JBU whittled the lead down to five points with 56 seconds left, but the Bison went 7-8 from the free throw line in the last minute to withstand the charge.

Perez had seven offensive rebounds among his 11 caroms on the night.

"Aaron really played tonight," Tolin said. "He was active on the boards and made some good post moves. He plays so hard, he gives himself a chance to score."

Following Perez's 17 in the scoring column for OBU was Moore with 14, Grace with 13 and Brent Jones with 10.

Cody Page scored 18 to lead the Golden Eagles.

Now 16-5 overall and 8-5 in the SAC, the Bison host Oklahoma Christian Thursday.

Oklahoma Baptist 66, John Brown University 60

Oklahoma Baptist

Aaron Perez 7-11 3-4 17; Al Moore 6-7 2-2 14; Evan Grace 3-8 4-4 13; Brent Jones 2-7 5-6 10; Charles Carter 2-8 1-3 5; Brian Hill 0-3 4-6 4; Justin Williams 1-4 0-0 3; Jamar Fortune 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Parker 0-0 0-0 0; Mirko Vojinovic 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 21-48 19-25 66.

John Brown University

Cody Page 7-15 2-2 18; Joel Tesis 5-12 5-6 15; Wes Brown 4-5 2-2 12; Jarrett McGriff 2-5 6-8 10; Andrius Mikutis 0-4 3-4 3; Ryland Allen 1-3 0-0 2; Jonathan Sparks 0-0 0-0 0; James Manthe 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Haney 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Dees 0-0 0-0 0; Justin Ritz 0-0 0-0 0; Davaughn Jackson 0-3 0-0 0; Alex Wiggs 0-0 0-0 0; Francisco Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0; John Williams 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 19-48 18-22 60.

Oklahoma Baptist 32 34 - 66

John Brown University 23 37 - 60

3-point goals-Oklahoma Baptist 5-14 (Evan Grace 3-8; Brent Jones 1-2; Justin Williams 1-4) , John Brown University 4-15 (Cody Page 2-8; Wes Brown 2-3; Ryland Allen 0-2; Andrius Mikutis 0-2) . Fouled out--Oklahoma Baptist-None, John Brown University-Davaughn Jackson. Rebounds-Oklahoma Baptist 37 (Aaron Perez 11) , John Brown University 25 (Jarrett McGriff 6) . Assists-Oklahoma Baptist 16 (Evan Grace 7) , John Brown University 13 (Jarrett McGriff 4) . Total Fouls-Oklahoma Baptist 22, John Brown University .