SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Basketball gave the Great American Conference leading Oklahoma Baptist Bison everything they could handle on Saturday afternoon but fell just short 67-62.

The Dawgs had the game within one possession trailing 65-62 with 35 seconds to play. They missed a layup though to get within one and were forced to foul thereafter in hopes of extending the game – to no avail.

They played from behind the entire way, never holding a lead in the game but would just not go away quietly.  SWOSU battled back from down as many as 11 points in the first half and 10 in the second half. Within striking distance in the closing minutes, SWOSU just could not knock down the shot they needed to erase their deficit for good.

In a slow scoring day for Damion Thornton, who finished with just six points on 2-of-14 shooting, SWOSU got lifts from Kamden Gipson who finished with a team high 16 points and Jaylan Williams who notched 12. Thornton did grab 13 rebounds in the contest.

SWOSU shot 32% from the floor in the game, compared to OBU's 45%. They made up ground from three-point land though by knocking down 12 treys (12-for-33 overall) while holding the Bison to just 6-for-24 (25%).

With the loss, the Bulldogs move to 6-7 in the GAC and sit tied for seventh in the standings.

In a tough schedule setup due to prior COVID postponements, SWOSU will now turnaround and travel to Southeastern Oklahoma State for a Monday makeup contest. Southeastern is currently the second ranked team in the conference.

From there, the Dawgs resume their regular schedule with a road trip to Arkadelphia next week to take on Henderson State on Thursday and Ouachita on Saturday.