SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Basketball fell 63-52 in a physical contest at Oklahoma Baptist on the opening night of conference play.

The Bulldogs continue to search for the first win of the season, dropping to 0-5 and now 0-1 in the GAC.

SWOSU trailed 34-24 at halftime and was edged in the second half scoring total by a single point.

At the halfway mark of the second half the Dawgs cut their deficit to just five points, trailing 44-39, until a 14-0 Bison run pushed the margin back out and squandered any chance of a comeback. 

The Dawg defense held OBU to their second lowest scoring total of the season, 63 points, but scored just 52 themselves – a season low.   

SWOSU finished with 44% shooting from the field while limiting OBU to 32% but surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 14 times which both proved to be difference makers.

The Bulldogs were outrebounded 43-35 on the night and had six more turnovers than Oklahoma Baptist. With 'second chance points' and 'points off turnovers' numbers added together, SWOSU got outscored 25-6 on the night.

Ben Smith narrowly missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. MJ Warrior, Jr. added 13 points, a new season high for him.

The team will be back to action on Saturday (Dec. 2) at home against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Tipoff for that contest will come at 3:00 pm inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.