Oklahoma Baptist Throttles Life (Ga.) 90-81
March 19, 2009
Kansas City, Mo. - Second-seeded Oklahoma Baptist University shot 65.6 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 90-81 victory over Life University (Ga.) in first round action of the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Men's Division I Basketball National Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Wednesday evening.
The Bison took a 30-28 lead into the halftime locker room after shooting 43.3 percent from the field, Brent Jones led Oklahoma Baptist at halftime with 12 points on six of 12 shooting from the field. Meanwhile, the Eagles were a cool 34.5 percent shooting from the floor, making 10 of their 29 shot attempts. Greg Brown led Life with nine points.
Both teams heated up in the second half with Oklahoma Baptist making an incredible 21 of 32 from the field. The Bison led 40-36 early in the half before a 14-2 run stretched the lead to 54-38. Nate Brumfield netted 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second period for Oklahoma Baptist. For Life, the Eagles were better shooting in the half, connecting on 50 percent. The Bison out-rebounded Life 46-21 on the glass.
In addition to Brumfield, Jones ended the night with 21 points and six assists, while Garrett Steinmetz poured in 17 markers. Charles Carter recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Brown led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points. Tay Barber added 17 points and JaQuan Bray contributed 16 markers.
Oklahoma Baptist improves to 28-4 overall and will play either Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) or MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) in the second round at 8 p.m. CDT on Friday. Life ends its campaign at 23-11 overall.
GAME NOTES
Oklahoma Baptist won its 49th tournament game, tying Georgetown (Ky.) for the most in NAIA history ... the combined 171 points was the highest-scoring game of the 2009 tournament, as was the 90 points by Oklahoma Baptist ... Life, the number two scoring offense in the NAIA, was held 11.5 points below their season average ... Oklahoma Baptist improves to 49-19 all-time in the tournament, including a 18-3 mark in first-round contests ... Oklahoma Baptist has now won eight straight first round tournament contests ... Life falls to 22-7 all-time in the tournament and 7-3 in first-round games ... Oklahoma Baptist's Charles Carter had his second double-double of the year.
