Tiger Basketball Captures GAC Championship in Win Over Arkansas Tech

Courtesy Ouachita Baptist University Athletics Department

BARTLESVILLE, Okla.- The Ouachita Tigers capped off their 2012-13 season as champions, downing their third straight opponent in three days and winning the Great American Conference championship. The Tigers beat Arkansas Tech by a score of 59-54 to cap off the tournament, following wins over Southeastern Oklahoma on Friday and Harding on Saturday.

Ouachita’s first half performance saw them with a one point deficit, as they entered the locker room trailing 25-24. The teams traded leads back and forth in the half, with six lead changes taking place.

The second half was a different story though, as the Tigers took the lead with about 15 minutes left to play and never relinquished it from that point on. Ouachita led by as many as nine, but a pair of threes from Tech’s Tyler Friedel cut the Tiger lead to just three points with 54 seconds left to play.

A pair of missed free throws from the Tigers allowed Tech to cut the lead to two points with a made free throw, but Julian LaDay put the game away with a pair of made free throws that left just 15 seconds on the clock. Tech missed a three point attempt, which led to another pair of free throws from the Tigers, this time from Nigel Ramsey. Ramsey drained one of the two attempts, sealing the five point win.

Colt Fason led the team, putting up 15 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Nigel Ramsey posted 10 points and eight rebounds, while Eric Braeuer had eight points and LaDay finished with seven. LaDay finished with five assists and Ramsey finished with four, while the team notched 12 assists on 17 made buckets.

Arkansas Tech’s Bobby Hatchet and Jared Williamson both finished with 12 points, while Marshawn Arnold finished with eight points.

Ouachita shot 37 percent from the floor compared to 35.7 percent for Arkansas Tech. The Tigers also forced 16 turnovers while only committing 11 of their own.

Colt Fason was named Tournament MVP, with Nigel Ramsey and Michael Morris both receiving nods for the All-Tournament Team.

The conference championship comes in just the second year of Head Coach Dennis Nutt’s tenure at the helm of the program. It is also the first conference title since the Tigers won the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Championship in 1977-78.

-Josh Fink, Sports Information Director