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November 21, 2000
OBU Tiger Basketball
Mac Sisson
ARKADELPHIA - After blowing a 13-point halftime advantage, the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers fought and clawed their way to a 73-69 overtime victory Monday night over the Lyon College Scots at OBU's Bill Vining Arena in the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center.
It was a tale of four teams it seemed on Monday night as both clubs had extended periods of productive moments and times of mental lapses as they fought inconsistency in the young season.
The final moments of regulation play brought the partisan Tiger fans to their feet as reserve forward Hassan Conteh evened the score at 57-57 as the buzzer sounded. Conteh's points were the pinnacle of a drive by OBU to respond to a second half challenge by Lyon.
At halftime the Tigers (1-1) seemed to have a strangle hold on the Scots (1-4) and led 35-22. That lead evaporated and Lyon tied it up 45-45 with 7:54 to play on a two-pointer by forward Vernon Johnson.
Lyon even managed a 52-47 lead at 5:42 on two free throws by Alan Rowell. From there it was dogfight with both teams responding to each other's baskets. A 54-54 tie came at the 1:33 mark on a two-pointer by OBU's point guard T.J. Jones.
With less than a minute to play, Lyon's Billy Linson converted a free throw off a foul by Conteh to make it 55-54 in favor of the Scots. The Scots added a point with a free throw with 15 seconds to play by Brandon Byrd to advance the score to 56-54. Ouachita then got a reprieve when Marlon Banks fouled Conteh with nine seconds to play. Conteh, a sophomore forward from Duncanville, Texas, stepped to the line and made one of two with 15 seconds to play and the score at 56-55 with the visitors on top.
The rebound off the missed free throw was grabbed by Lyon's Richard Whale. With Lyon in control, the Tigers with seven seconds left were forced to foul. Jones fouled guard Terry Large who made only one of two shots to give Lyon a two point lead, 57-55. The Tigers brought the ball quickly down the court and found Conteh with an angle to the basket to tie the score, 57-57 with less than a second to play.
In the OT period, it was all Ouachita as the Tigers hit their shots for the final margin of victory.
Ouachita was led by Jones with 21 points and forward Mauricio Watson with 20 points. Both players had seven rebounds. Lyon was led by Thomas Rost with 15 points, all of which were three-pointers (five of 11).
The Tigers hit 53 percent of their shots (29 of 55) from the field, while Lyon went 24 of 65 for 37 percent. OBU was 15 of 26 in the first half for 58 percent, while Lyon was very cold and connected on only 25 percent of their shots (8 of 32). The second half was not a mirror of the first, as OBU hit only 36 percent of their shots (8 of 22), while the Scots found their distance and hit a little better with a 12 of 26 effort for 46 percent.
Ouachita was out-rebounded, 40-31.
The Tigers will travel to Ruston, Louisiana on Tuesday, November 21, to face the NCAA Division I Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs. Tip-off at the Thomas Assembly Center is at 7 p.m. It will be the Tigers' third game in four days after experiencing a 99-90 season opening road loss on Saturday afternoon to Texas A&M University-Commerce.
Following the Tech game, OBU will take time off for Thanksgiving and return to once again play Lyon on November 30 at 7 p.m.at Becknall Gymnasium in Batesville.
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Contact Edith Warren for ticket information: 870-245-5181
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