The Ouachita Baptist University Tigers pulled off a dramatic come from behind win over the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers Thursday night, 77-76. Dynamic games from Colt Fason and Micah Delph, who both scored 22 points, was just enough to get the Tigers a conference win.
“Once we finally got possession of the ball late in the second half we were able to slow the game down and control the court how we wanted to,” said Assistant Coach Logan Johnson, “we were finally able to make key plays down the stretch.”
Going into half time, the Tigers looked comfortable leading the game 40-24. Junior Guard, Micah Delph had the hot hand behind the arc hitting 3 of his 5 three point shots in the first half.
“We weren’t shooting our best, but we had the ball in our hands so we had control for most of the first half,” Johnson said.
Northwestern Oklahoma found itself on its heels repeatedly and the Tigers continued to push their offensive efforts forward. The offensive pressure looked to faze the struggling Rangers who only managed to make 10 of their 30 shots.
The second half started slowly but the comfort that the Tigers enjoyed in the first half started to dwindle when Northwestern made some key changes to the line up. Darrian Dempsey came off the bench to score 15 points.
“Northwestern isn’t known for their three point shooting, but it’s what put them back in the game. They were able to cut the lead down in a short period of time,” explained Coach Johnson.
The Tigers went cold as Northwestern capitalized their opportunities and took the lead with almost half of the second period left to play. The lead changed hands a total of five times and the Rangers started to pull away. The Tigers were on their heels now and clearly something needed to change.
“We played zone defense for most of the game, but we started to let gaps open up late in the second half and they were hitting all of their open shots. Once we switched to man-to-man coverage, and a full court press, we shut down key plays,” said Coach Johnson.
The change in defensive strategy paid off, the Tigers closed down on the lead. The Tigers were controlling the offensive boards and won possession with only a couple seconds left.
Micah Delph opened himself up to get the ball from an in-bound pass and without hesitation hit the game winning 3 pointer.
The Tigers will be at home again this Saturday as they take on Southwestern Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. in Vining Arena.
By: Josh Gelante
