ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – SWOSU Men's Basketball thought they had the game winning shot after Kamden Gipson knocked down a go-ahead three pointer with 36 seconds left to play at Ouachita, but the Tigers retook the lead on the next possession and held on to down the Dawgs 69-68 on Thursday.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-5 in league play and 6-7 overall on the year. SWOSU will need to shake the tough loss off quickly, with a matchup with Henderson State looming on Saturday across the street.

SWOSU led by five points with just under three minutes to play in the game, but Ouachita closed the game by outscoring the visiting Dawgs 9-3 the rest of the way.

The game was back and forth and featured 11 lead changes and six ties. The margin never grew more than five points to either side in the second half.

Ben Smith's double-double nearly gave SWOSU the lift it needed. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds – one point shy of tying his career high scoring number which came against Ouachita the year prior.

Gipson followed Smith in scoring and finished with 16 points. Chris Braggs, Jr., returning to the lineup after missing last week with sickness, added 10 points.

Nate Goodlow led the team in both assists (4) and steals (3).

SWOSU shot 48% overall from the field compared to Ouachita's 43%.  The Tigers knocked down three more three-point shots than the Dawgs though and did so more efficiently.

Free throws again plagued SWOSU. They finished 12-for-23 (52%) from the charity stripe.