Women fall short

SHAWNEE – A gritty effort wasn’t enough as the University of Science and Arts couldn’t make the plays down the stretch in a 76-66 loss at Oklahoma Baptist Monday night.

Led by 20 points and 10 rebounds from Charite Lewis and 21 points from Ivaney Marquez, USAO was unable to outlast the Lady Bison. The Drovers held the lead six times before the turnover bug got the best of them.

OBU was led by Natatsha Hogg’s 16 points as the home team improved to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the league while dropping USAO to 8-5 and 2-3.

The Drovers led 26-24 after a Marquez 3-pointer late in the first half, but OBU countered with a 10-0 run. USAO cut the deficit to 33-30 by halftime after its own spurt.

OBU controlled the late part of the game even though USAO hit 14-of-29 from the field and only committed eight second-half turnovers.

Men upended

SHAWNEE – In a battle of second-place teams, Oklahoma Baptist raced out to a quick lead and collected a big 93-66 win over the Drover men.

OBU, ranked 24th nationally, scored with efficiency and gave USAO fits with its defensive pressure. Behind 14 points from Nate Brumfield and a 63.3 first-half shooting percentage, the Bison took a 48-24 lead into the halftime locker room.

Two early 3-pointers by Tim Nelson and Jamaal McCoy kept USAO in it early, but the Drovers went cold while OBU continued to pour in the buckets. The cold-shooting first half doomed USAO as the Drovers hit only 9-of-30 from the field and 1-of-6 from the free throw line before the break.

While the Drovers scored 42 points in the second half, it was more of the same for OBU hitting 59.4 percent from the floor and out-rebounding USAO 45-27. Brumfield finished with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

McCoy 17 second-half points to finish with 23 points including five 3-pointers for USAO, which will be at Wayland Baptist and Lubbock Christian over the weekend before returning to face Northwestern Oklahoma Jan. 15 inside the USAO Fieldhouse.