SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Basketball fell to the No. 9 ranked team in the nation 79-67 in Shawnee after never being able to gain momentum on Monday night.

The Bison stayed firmly in control throughout the opening 20 minutes. After the Dawgs trailed 13-11 with just under 14 minutes to play, OBU went on a 12-0 run. The Bulldogs did not score again until Elijah Jordan knocked down a three-pointer to end a six-minute scoring drought.

SWOSU shot just 2-12 from beyond the arc in the first half and committed 11 turnovers, which led to an 11-0 advantage for the Bison in points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs could have let the game get out of hand against a very talented OBU squad after the Bison built a 20-point lead early in the second half, but the Dawgs stayed tough and made the home team work for every point on Monday night. Multiple times, SWOSU cut the game to single digits, using runs of 8-0 and 5-0 to trim the deficit to just seven points, but Oklahoma Baptist always answered with timely baskets to halt any Bulldog momentum.

SWOSU dropped the game 79-67 to Oklahoma Baptist, who, despite being the worst free throw shooting team in the GAC, went 17-22 (77.3 percent) for their third-best performance of the season. In the second half, OBU made 66.7 percent of their field goals and shot 50 percent from three-point range.

The Dawgs shot 42.6 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from deep, going 7-11 from the free throw line. OBU held a rebounding advantage, 37-28, but SWOSU excelled in transition, outscoring the Bison 16-2 in fast break points.

Ty Frierson led the Bulldogs with 15 points and five steals. Tobias Roland and Elijah Jordan each added 14 points but fouled out. Kayden Carter contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

SWOSU is currently slated in a tie for sixth in the GAC with a 7-11 conference record, part of a six-team logjam with records of 7-11 or 6-12, spanning sixth through 11th place in the league. The Bulldogs return home Thursday to face Arkansas-Monticello at 7:30 p.m.