Second half surge: Tigers finish strong in 53-49 road victory over Christian Brothers
Feb. 17, 2011
MEMPHIS. Tenn.- An early deficit didn’t phase Ouachita Baptist on the road Thursday, as the Tigers went on a 35-20 run in the second half to defeat Christian Brothers, 53-49, in Gulf South Conference play at Canale Arena in Memphis.
Ouachita (9-14, 4-7 GSC West) was led by junior Emmanuel Engulu, who finished with a game-high 16 points on five-of-five shooting and four rebounds, as Christian Brothers (17-8, 5-6 GSC West) was forced into 17 turnovers in the Tigers’ win.
The game tipped to a 14-point lead for the Bucs with 15:48 remaining, but the game was far from over as Ouachita chipped away at the lead to cut the deficit to single digits at nine with a three-pointer from Engulu at the 13:43 mark. It was the final five minutes of play, however, that completely changed the facet of the game.
A three-pointer from Sophomore Nigel Ramsey cut the Bucs’ lead to four with 4:45 remaining, then sophomore Austin Mitchell cut it to one on a three-point field goal at 43-42 at the 4:02 mark. A layup from Ramsey, coupled with another three-pointer from Mitchell balanced the answers from Christian Brothers to tie the game at 47-47 with two minutes left.
From there, it was only free-throw shots that Ouachita would need to take the lead, as Ramsey hit both for the first lead of the game for Ouachita at 49-47 with 1:16 left, then Engulu stretched it to a four-point lead with sinking a pair of shots at the charity stripe with 47 seconds remaining. A layup from Christian Brothers’ Harry Green threatened the lead at 51-49 with 18 seconds left.
Mitchell, however, closed the door with two late free-throw attempts with 16 seconds left and would hold the Bucs’ to a missed three-point shot from there.
Ouachita senior Scott Day added 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Ramsey accumulated nine points and six rebounds in the victory. Ouachita shot well below their season average of 45 percent at 34 percent shooting on 16-of-46 shots, while knocking down 14-of-20 free-throws for 70 percent shooting.
Christian Brothers were led by Cory McArthy’s 13 points and 12 from Green. The Bucs shot 40 percent overall and 82 percent from the free-throw line. Ouachita held a slim rebounding margin at 27-26.
The Tigers return to the Bill Vining Arena gym on Saturday, Feb. 19 against Arkansas-Monticello at 5 p.m.
