[Men's Basketball] OBU Takes Down Cavs in Rivalry Game
SHAWNEE- St. Gregory's (1-2) and Oklahoma Baptist University (1-0) renewed their cross-town rivalry on Friday night in a crowded Sumner Field House. The entire first half of the game was very back-and-forth, but the Bison were able to pull away in the second half for the 81-67 win.
In the first half of the game, there were 4 lead changes and the score was tied 5 times. The Cavaliers were able to take their largest lead of the game with nearly 8 minutes remaining in the first half, as they led 22-16, but OBU caught fire and went on a 19-6 run to close out the half with a 35-28 lead.
In the second half, OBU started shooting much better, and they were able to extend the lead to 18 points. The Cavs put on a late fight in the second half as James Bickers (JR/Tulsa, Okla.) got hot from three point range, but it was too little, too late for the home team.
Neither team shot well in the contest as OBU finished with a .370 field goal percentage, and the Cavs finished with a slightly better .394 field goal percentage. Dispite having a higher field goal percentage, the Cavaliers were killed by poor free-throw shooting, and foul trouble. SGU shot just 6-13 (.462) from the charity stripe, while OBU went 35-47 (.745). Oklahoma Baptist had two players finish with 10 rebounds to help their team out-rebound St. Gregory's 48-38 as a team.
James Bickers and Gianpaolo Riccio (JR/Avellino, Italy) led the Cavaliers in scoring with 12 points each. Carlos Slaughter (FR/Shawnee, Okla.) finished the game with 10 points and 5 boards. Kilder Gonzalez (SR/Maracaibo, Venezuela) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, to go with his 6 points and 4 assists on offense. Malik Barnett (SR/Midwest City, Okla.) and Todd Smith (JR/Chicago, IL) each finished with 8 points a piece in the loss.
St. Gregory's will take the court again on Nov. 10, when they play at Baker University (Kan.) at 8 PM.