HOT SPRINGS – Ouachita Baptist capped its historic run at the 2024 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships with a three-set victory against second-seeded Harding on Saturday from Bank OZK Arena.

The Tigers (22-9) became the lowest seed, five, to win the league’s volleyball title. They became the first to defeat three higher seeds en route to the title. Additionally, they joined Arkansas Tech, in 2021, as just the second team to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in one year. The became the first first-time champion of the event since Oklahoma Baptist won for the first time in 2019.

The opening set saw Ouachita take an early 13-8 lead. Harding (22-9) answered by tallying seven of the subsequent eight points. Trailing 19-17, the Tigers rattled off seven consecutive points – four on Riley Braziel kills – to advance to set point. After four-straight points from the Lady Bisons, Braziel closed out the set with another kill.

A 10-3 spurt early in the second set put the Lady Bisons in front, 12-8. They maintained the three-point lead until the Tigers closed out the set with 11 of the final 15 points. Haley Fairchild scored two kills and a solo block. Braziel collected two more kills, as did Leah Gardner.

After eight ties early in the third set, the Tigers closed out the match in grand fashion – scoring 13 of the final 17 points – for a 25-16 set victory. Braziel scored three points -two kills plus an ace – and Gardner put the finishing touches on the championship victory with kills for the final two points.

Courtney Hanson captured Tournament MVP honors after averaging 12.08 assists and 4.83 digs per set in the three victories. On Saturday, she finished with 41 assists and 18 digs. Avery Jauz and Braziel joined Hanson on the All-Tournament Team. Jauz collected 25 digs against the Lady Bison and averaged 7.33 per set during the tournament. Her 88 total digs rank as the second-most in a single GAC Championship. Braziel led the Tigers with 13 kills.

Harding’s Tatum Fouche and Delaney Garner received All-Tournament honors. Fouche finished with 23 digs on Saturday and Garner registered nine kills. East Central’s Odalys Gonzalez and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Lacy Mott filled out the seven member team.

The Tigers secure their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships in program history. They learn their opponent during Monday’s selection show. It streams on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

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WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Ma’Darius Hobson nailed a long two-pointer with one second remaining in overtime on Thursday to give the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team an 82-81 road win over Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Hobson’s game-winner was right in front of the Ouachita (3-8, 1-4 GAC) bench to give the Tigers their first conference victory and first road win of the season.

Ouachita led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and held a 10-point lead of 46-36 at the halftime break.

SWOSU (3-8, 2-4 GAC) rallied in the second half to outscore the Tigers 38-28 to force overtime. Neither team scored in the final 1:44 of the second half.

Prior to Hobson’s game-winner, neither team had scored since SWOSU went up by one on a three-pointer with 2:15 remaining in the extra period.

Hobson led the Tigers with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He also had a team high seven rebounds and four assists. Tylar Haynes added 15 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Alex Scariolo added 13 points and five boards. T’vondrick Henryhad 11 points.

The Tigers carry their momentum a couple hours north to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

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ARKADELPHIA – D2Football.com has released its annual Elite 100 team with a pair of representatives from Ouachita Baptist University making the list.

Junior running back TJ Cole and senior cornerback Gregory Junior both earned a spot on the Elite 100 Second Team.

Cole adds this to an already full list of honors for the 2021 season. The Texarkana, Texas native was named to the All-Great American Conference First Team, the D2CCA All-Region Second Team, and the AFCA All-America First Team.

During the 2021 season, he broke the GAC single-season rushing record with a final total of 1,530 yards on 236 carries. That total ranks third on the Ouachita single-season charts. Cole was responsible for 18 touchdowns this past season, and finished the year with nine games out of 11 with at least 100 yards. He is on pace to eclipse the 3,000-yard career rushing milestone in 2022.

Junior is recognized as one of the best cover cornerbacks in the nation. The Crossett, Arkansas native helped Ouachita be the top pass defense in the GAC this season. The All-GAC First Team selection finished the year with 46 tackles, seven pass breakups, and was responsible for one safety.

Junior has accepted an invitation to participate in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in the last week of January. This is the premier postseason all-star game for draft-eligible college football players.

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RUSSELLVILLE – On Tuesday, the Great American Conference announced the results of its 2021 football preseason coaches’ poll.  Ouachita edged out Harding for the top spot.

In 2019, the Tigers won their third-straight GAC regular season title with a second consecutive undefeated regular season. They enter 2021 with a 27-game conference game win streak and they have qualified for the previous three NCAA playoffs. They received seven first-place votes.

Harding collected four first-place votes. The 2019 Bisons defense led the GAC in points allowed, yards allowed and sacks in reaching the NCAA playoffs for the fourth-straight season. Cole Chancey, a 2019 Harlon Hill finalist, set the league’s single-season record for rushing yards with 1,375

Henderson State claimed the final first-place vote and placed third in the balloting. The Reddies earned a berth to the 2019 Live United Bowl. L’liott Curry tallied 84 catches, 1,167 yards and 14 touchdowns, marks that all ranked in the top five single-season totals in league history.

Oklahoma Baptist took fourth. In 2019, the Bison offense led the league in scoring, total offense, passing offense and first downs per game. Preston Haire led the league with 3,041 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes. Tyler Stuever’s 18 total touchdowns ranked second while Joshua Cornell finished second to Curry with 1,054 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

Southern Arkansas placed fifth in the poll, followed by East Central. The Muleriders feature a new head coach as Mike McCarty takes over for the retired Bill Keopple. He inherits quarterback Hayden Mallory who threw 20 touchdown passes in 2019. The Tigers’ Mookie Douglas ran for 1,144 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. Quarterback Kenny Hrncir threw for 1,876 yards and ran for 630.

Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma State garnered the next three positions. The Weevils feature 2019 Freshman of the Year Demilon Brown. He threw for 1,057 yards, ran for 803 and accounted for 14 touchdowns. Devontae Dean, the team’s top running back, as well as their top two receivers – C.J. Parham and DeAndre Washington, all return. Caleb Batie led the Wonder Boys in rushing with 620 yards and five touchdowns.  The Rangers’ Gavin Garner led the team with 37 receptions and 620 yards.

Southwestern Oklahoma State, Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene rounded out the poll. The Savage Storm’s Katrell Blakely and Braxton Kincade combined for 101 receptions and almost 1,300 yards. SWOSU’s Justin Bailey averaged 18.7 yards per reception. After almost 20 months as head coach, Dustin Hada will finally get the chance to lead the Crimson Storm into competition. Gage Porter threw for 996 yards and ran for 751. He accounted for 12 touchdowns.

The regular season opens on Thursday, September 2 with five contests – the favored Tigers host Oklahoma Baptist; Southwestern Oklahoma State faces Henderson State; Southern Nazarene visits Arkansas-Monticello; Southern Arkansas takes on Northwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech welcomes in Southeastern Oklahoma State. Week One concludes with East Central traveling to Harding.

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ARKADELPHIA – A hot-shooting start to the 2021 campaign continued for Andy Sharpe‘s Muleriders on Saturday afternoon as Southern Arkansas returned to action inside the W.T. Watson Center for the first time in 322 days. For the second straight game, the Muleriders shot 50% from the floor and used a highly active effort on the defensive end to pick up a 69-58 win over Ouachita in Great American Conference action.

Southern Arkansas (2-0, 2-0 GAC) did not trail in the contest as it built an eight-point advantage through the game’s first 5:20 of play; a lead which grew to as much as 19 points in the first half, before resting at 15 points at the intermission. Ouachita would be unable to get the deficit under ten throughout the second half as the Muleriders held the Tigers to a 33.3% shooting clip from the floor, which included just four makes in 24 attempts from beyond-the-arc.

Aiding Southern Arkansas in the opening twenty minutes was 17 of their 19 points off turnovers. Two days after sinking 11 trifectas in the win over Henderson State, the Muleriders bottomed nine such shots as senior Aaron Lucas, the Peoples Bank Player of the Game, and junior newcomer Blake Rogers each connected on a trio of three-pointers, while junior Victory Ihrihri nailed a pair and sophomore Dodge Brown connected on his first of the season.

Devante Brooks, who had a trio of impressive slams in the win to push his personal dunk counter (#DevanteDunks) to four through two games, led SAU in scoring with 18 points and four rebounds. Lucas followed with 17 points, a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in a game-high 36 minutes. Rogers added 15 points, four assists, two rebounds and a steal. The Muleriders allowed just one Tiger in double figures as DJ Kane led OUA with 11 points.

Southern Arkansas remains home for a January 11 clash with league rival Arkansas-Monticello.

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SEARCY – Harding scored six straight points late in the second half to pull away from Ouachita Baptist and defeat the Tigers 84-77 Thursday at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House in the Bisons’ first game of the season. It was the first of 20 regular season games on Harding’s Great American Conference schedule. Harding plays again Saturday on the road at Arkansas-Monticello.

The game was tight throughout most of the second half. A 13-0 Ouachita run early in the half gave Ouachita a 52-49 lead with 15:10 remaining. Over the next 13 minutes, neither team held a lead larger than three points.

Harding (1-0, 1-0) went on a 10-2 run beginning with an Emir Ahmedic jumper with 3:26 left. Romio Harvey then scored six of the Bisons’ next eight points. His free throws with 2:01 left gave Harding a 76-73 advantage. Ramiro Santiago gave the Bisons a five-point lead on a layup with 1:14 left, and two more Harvey free throws with 35 seconds remaining put the game out of reach.

Harvey, who averaged 20.9 points last season, led Harding with 24. He made three 3-pointers and shot 7 of 8 at the free-throw line. Freshman Stetson Smithson added 15 points, and Santiago, a junior from Argentina, had 14 in his Bison debut.

Harding made six of its first nine shots and used a 10-0 run to pull out to a 15-6 lead with 14:15 left. The Bisons led by at least five points the rest of the first half and extended its lead to 13 points at 42-29 on a Smithson 3-pointer with 3:22 left. The Bisons shot 54.5% in the first half and led 47-39 at halftime.

Harding’s five newcomers provided 35 of the Bisons’ 47 first-half points.

Leon Kalinic led Ouachita (0-1, 0-1) with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Harding shot 45.5% for the game and limited Ouachita to 40.8%. The Bisons made 10 3-pointers and 14 of 19 free throws, including all eight attempts in the second half.

Harding’s victory snapped a three-game Ouachita winning streak in the series. The game opened the 74th season of intercollegiate basketball at Harding. The last time a season opened after the new year was in 1935.

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ARKADELPHIA – Harding women’s basketball got off to a great start and controlled the offensive boards to defeat Ouachita Baptist, 69-60, Saturday in Great American Conference action at Vining Arena.

The win was Harding’s eighth straight and are part of a two-way tie for first place in the GAC standings. Harding is 15-7 overall and 12-4 in conference, tied with Southeastern Oklahoma. Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene were both part of a four-way tie for first but lost Saturday to fall a game behind.

Ouachita lost its 10th straight and dropped to 4-18 overall and 1-15 in conference.

Harding led 22-11 after one quarter, closing the period on a 9-0 run. The Lady Bisons held the Tigers without a point for the last 6:13 of the quarter.

Harding extended its lead to as many as 17 points in the third quarter, and the Lady Bisons held a double-digit lead throughout much of the game.

Harding had 15 offensive rebounds and outscored Ouachita 23-6 on second-chance points.

Cheyenne Brown made 7 of 13 shots and led Harding in scoring with 15 points. She has scored in double figures in all eight games of Harding’s winning streak. Kennedy Cooper scored 11 points before fouling out, and Carissa Caples added 10. Peyton Padgett had a team-high nine rebounds, and Jordan Elder had six assists.

Ouachita Baptist, who only has seven active players, shot 50% from the field. Eden Crow led the Tigers with 20 points.

Harding hosts Arkansas Tech Thursday at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

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EL DORADO – Ouachita takes down Southern Arkansas, 38-21, in the Murphy USA Classic behind Brockton Brown’s 149 yards and three touchdowns.

Allie Freeman became the first player in Great American Conference history to record over 5,000 career all purpose yards. Freeman brought in six receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown. He was Brayden Brazeal’s favorite target who went 8-15 on the day with 130 yards and a touchdown.

Brown led the rushing attack for the second week in a row scoring three touchdowns in bouth of the last two games. Shun’cee Thomas and TJ Cole both put in great games for the Tigers. Thomas recorded 81 yards also putting in a touchdown while Cole added 82 yards on the ground.

The Tigers defense flew to the ball during the game led by Austin Guymon and Terrell Gibson who both recorded 11 tackles a piece. Jonathan Harris had eight tackles and a forced fumble while Gregory Junior had seven tackles, five of which were solo tackles. Anthony Freeman was vital in the trenches with two quarterback pressures in the game.

On the first drive, Ouachita took the ball and drove 75 yards for a touchdown. The drive was capped off by a one yard rush by Brown. After the defense forced a punt, Ouachita regained possession at their own 16 yard line. It did not take long for Brown to put in his second touchdown on a 42 yard rush giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

The Muleriders punted the ball again before the end of the first quarter setting up the Tigers third touchdown in the first 17 minutes. The Tigers showed off the passing game during the third drive with Freeman catching a 35 yard touchdown pass from Brazeal. The Muleriders scored again before the half as the teams went into the break with the score 21-7.

After the Muleriders scored on their first drive of the second half, the Tigers answered with Brown’s third score of the day with a four yard rush extending the Ouachita lead to 28-14. Going into the fourth SAU put up another score which was answered by a Tigers field goal. With 7:31 left in the game the score sat at 31-21. On the kickoff after the field goal Jonathan Harris forced a fumble recovered by Cole Edrington and gave the Tigers the ball back up 10. In two plays Shun’Cee Thomas put in a 26 yard rushing touchdown. That is all the Tigers needed to capture the win.

The Tigers will back at Cliff Harris Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9 against Arkansas at Monticello at 1 p.m. For up to date information on Ouachita Tiger Football follow their Twitter, (OuachitaFB) , Facebook (OuachitaTigerFootball) and Instagram (OuachitaFB). Also follow Ouachita Athletics on social media at Twitter (OuachitaTigers), Facebook (Ouachita Athletics) and on Instagram (OuachitaTigers).

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BETHANY, Okla. – Tigers Football takes out the Crimson Storm, 27-13, behind a steady ground attack and a stingy defense at the SNU Football Stadium.

Ouachita’s defensive unit came out of halftime on fire flying around to the football. In the third quarter the Crimson Storm had a net of -3 yards total. Overall in the second half the Tigers only allowed SNU to put up 24 yards to close out the game.

The defense was led by linebacker Oshae Pruitt who put in 10 tackles on the day, 4 solo and 6 assisted. Keandra Evans had another great game recording eight tackles and blocking an extra point. Terrell Gibson made big plays in the second half from the linebacker position putting in six tackles including a tackle for a loss.

Brockton Brown led the offensive attack for the Tigers rushing 20 times for 157 yards and three touchdowns. The largest run of the day was a 60 yard touchdown scamper that gave Ouachita their first lead of the night. TJ Cole also had a good rushing day for Ouachita carrying the ball 15 times for 89 yards and a touchdown.

The weather conditions in Bethany were less than ideal as the rain and the cold beat down on the teams. The Tigers started the first 23 minutes of the game attempting to acclimate to the conditions. After going down 13-0 the Tigers fought back with a score of their own. Getting the ball with 4:13 left in the half the Tigers marched down the field with six plays going 46 yards. The drive was capped off by Brown’s first touchdown of the night.

After the half, the Tigers stopped the Crimson Storm on a critical fourth down taking over the ball in the SNU territory. In three plays the Tigers punched the ball in the end zone to tie up the game. Ouachita got the ball back with 3:34 left in the third quarter and only needed two plays to see Brockton Brown storm down the field on a 60 yard rush for a touchdown. The score gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 20-13.

The Tigers put it out of reach in the fourth quarter going 80 yards on 12 plays running off 6:18 to take a 27-13 lead. In the second half, the Tigers would put in 186 yards and scored three touchdowns to push their record to 8-0 on the season.

Ouachita returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 2 against Southern Arkansas at 2:00 PM in the Murphy Classic. For up to date information on Ouachita Tiger Football follow their Twitter, (OuachitaFB) , Facebook (OuachitaTigerFootball) and Instagram (OuachitaFB). Also follow Ouachita Athletics on social media at Twitter (OuachitaTigers), Facebook (Ouachita Athletics) and on Instagram (OuachitaTigers).

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