A 13-year streak of postseason appearances was on the line for the Oklahoma Baptist men’s basketball team. The challenge to keep the streak alive and make it to the NAIA National Tournament for a 14th straight year was daunting, but clear.
Win four games in four days.
OBU was .500 on the season at 15-15 coming into the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament and the only way to get into the national tournament was to earn the automatic bid awarded to the conference tournament champion. The Bison would be the eighth seed in the SAC tournament and would have to win three games just to get the opportunity to play for the conference title.
Oklahoma Baptist got the run started in style with a 103-76 victory over ninth-seeded Texas Wesleyan. Junior Tyler Davis blew up for 35 points and was an amazing 9-of-12 from behind the arc. The win was the only relatively easy one on the week and set up a contest with the top seed, Southwestern Assemblies of God.
This game took an extra five minutes to decide, but finally went the way of the Bison. OBU defeated SAGU, 79-78, in overtime. The current (at the time) NAIA Player of the Week, Aaron Abram, had a double-double with 20 points and 15 boards and was one of six Bison in double figures in scoring.
OBU got a little payback in the semifinals with a 92-88 win over Mid-America Christian. The Evangels won both regular season games, but the fifth seed couldn’t win three over the Bison for the year. And this put OBU back into the SAC tournament championship game.
The Bison took on No. 2 seed Wayland Baptist and for the third straight day, the game went down to the wire.
OBU trailed by eight twice in the first half, but got to within one, 34-33, at the intermission thanks to a three-pointer by Antonio Arnold at the buzzer.
WBU kept the lead through most of the second half and looked to take the game, up 10 points with 4:20 remaining and the ball.
But then Kendall Parks stole the ball and all the momentum shifted. After a missed three-pointer, Abram put the rebound back in and started a 13-2 run for the Bison, which is how they would close the game.
Abram also made the go-ahead basket, giving his team a 68-67 lead with 47 seconds left. Each team made free throws and the final score show Oklahoma Baptist on top, 70-69, and conference tournament champions.
OBU fell in the first round of the NAIA Tournament to the top seed Cal State-San Marcos, 88-81, but did make the trip to Kansas City once again in 2014.
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