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January 23, 2001ARKADELPHIA-The Ouachita Baptist University Lady Tigers earned their twelfth victory of the season, 79-66, over the Southern Arkansas University Riderettes, while the OBU Tigers fell, 93-88, to the SAU Muleriders in Gulf South Conference games Monday night at OBU's Bill Vining Arena in the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center.
The win by the Lady Tigers moved their season record to 12-4 and 4-2, while the Riderettes dropped to 7-9, 1-5. The Tigers' loss saw their record fall to 3-13, 1-5, while the 'Riders advanced to 8-7, 3-3.
The victory by the Lady Tigers was coach Garry Crowder's 500th career victory against 165 losses in a 26-year career. In six campaigns at Ouachita, Crowder has amassed a record of 96-56. Prior to coming to Ouachita as coach, Crowder was head coach at Jessieville High School for 13 years.
In Monday night's game, Ouachita received 26 points from sophomore transfer guard Crystal Allen from Linden, Texas. Allen, the team's leading scorer with a 17-point average, also added nine rebounds to the winning effort. Behind her in scoring for OBU was freshman forward Stephanie Grimes from Maypearl, Texas with 17 points and freshman guard Lyndsey Hawkins from Jonesboro (Valley View) who scored 12 points. Grimes also had 10 rebounds for the evening.
Southern Arkansas was led by Mesha McClodden with 20 points, followed by Meah Biley with 19, and Chandra Spencer with 14. McClodden led the Riderettes in rebounds with 11.
The Lady Tigers led at halftime, 36-33.
For the balance of the game, an average of only three to five points separated the two clubs.
"We just couldn't get into a rhythm," said Crowder. "They threw a junk defense on us, that affected our style of play. It wasn't a real pretty win, but I'll take it."
With only 2:32 to play in the game, OBU held a precarious 66-64 lead. But, as Ouachita worked the ball inside over the next couple of minutes, SAU was called for fouls as the Lady Tigers converted their freethrows to win going away.
The Lady Tigers shot 42 percent from the field (28 of 67), while the Riderettes shot 38 percent (22 of 58). OBU hit seven of 24 attempts from the arc, while the distance was not a factor for the Magnolia team as it made zero of six. At the line, OBU hit 16 of 21 for 76 percent, while SAU was 22 of 29 for 76 percent. The OBU women gathered 44 rebounds, compared to 41 for the visitors.
The SAU Muleriders had a good night in shooting hitting 61 percent (30 of 49) of their efforts from the field, while OBU hit only 48 percent (30 of 62). Ouachita was whistled for 22 foul that allowed SAU to hit 26 of 36 from the line. OBU was 15 of 16 from the charity stripe.
SAU led at halftime, 43-32.
The Tigers led by 10 at one point in the first half when forward Tim Lane hit a three-pointer to make it 22-12 with 11:16 to play. But, the 'Riders then went on a 19-point run to erase the Ouachita lead and take command as the half came to an end.
In the second half, Southern's lead climbed to 21 points at 69-48 with 12:58 to play on a bucket by Bryan Biley.
Ouachita's shooting improved as the half progressed and Mike Reynolds' Tigers climbed back to within five as time ran out.
Ouachita senior guard T.J. Jones from Conway scored 24 points, including a perfect six of six from the line and four of seven from the arc. Lane added 17, including four of seven from three-point land. Forward Mauricio Watson scored 12 points, while guard Jarris Kentle added 11.
The Muleriders had a terrific night from guard Shawn Mason from Fairfield Bay who scored 34 points, including 10 of 12 from the line. He was followed by Jeff Baker with 19, Jason Wilson with 12. And Scotty Pennington with 10.
The late flurry by Ouachita improved its shooting percentage from 39 percent in the first half to 56 percent in the second half and 48 percent for the game. The Tigers, though, continue to have foul trouble, allowing SAU to hit 26 points at the line. SAU outrebounded Ouachita, 31-24.
Both Ouachita basketball teams are again at home on Thursday night as the Harding University Bisons (7-7, 2-4) and Lady Bisons (10-6, 3-3) come to town for Gulf South Conference games. The women will tipoff at 6 p.m. at Vining Arena, followed by the men at 8 p.m.
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