The Ouachita Tigers battled but fell to the Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs 67-63 on Saturday in Great American Conference at Vining Arena.
The Tigers were hot in the first half, which ended 36-36, shooting 52 percent from the field and 60 percent from deep. Ouachita’s lack of offensive rebounds in the second half proved to be a critical advantage for the Bulldogs.
“We had a couple of plays during the game that did not work and we missed an offensive rebound in the key moment of the game, with 1:30 remaining and Southeastern Oklahoma hit a 3-pointer behind it,” Tigers assistant coach Logan Johnson said.
Besides the performance in offensive rebounds, the Tigers’ shooting fell off in the second half, as they hit just 35 percent from the field overall and 33.3 percent from deep. The Bulldogs took advantage of Ouachita’s shooting slump with strong defensive rebounding to seize control of the game for most of the second half, but the Tigers did rally late.
Ouachita had multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead in the last minutes of the game, but failed on crucial 3-point attempts. “Despite the defeat, the team did a good job and made few mistakes. They played hard and battled throughout the game,” said Johnson.
Colt Fason paced the Tigers with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Rod Camphor of Southwestern finished with a game-high 21 points off 4-8 shooting from deep and 7-9 from the line.
The Tigers (8-16, 5-13) will host rival Henderson State on Thursday, Feb. 27, in their final home game of the season.
By: Ian Monteiro
