UAFS freshman forward David Ward had a career night against Ouachita Baptist, and his breakout performance nearly helped the Lions roar back from a double-digit deficit against the Tigers on Friday night.

The Lions fought back from a 20-point deficit with eight minutes to play to get within as few as two points with 37 seconds left before the Tigers crushed the comeback bid with three free throws late to seal their 77-72 win Friday in the UAFS Lions Thanksgiving Classic at the Stubblefield Center.

UAFS (3-3) will look to salvage a split in the two-game, four-team classic on Saturday when it hosts No. 5/10-ranked Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m. in the classic finale. Southern Nazarene (5-0) held off Midwestern State 77-72 in Friday's opening game.

Ouachita Baptist (2-1) will play Midwestern State (3-3) 5 p.m. in the first game of Saturday's slate of games. Live statistics and live stream will be available for each game.

Ward scored a career-high 29 points – the eighth-most points in a single game of the Lions' NCAA Division II era, and he made a career-best 7 of 8 3-pointers – the sixth-most 3-pointers made in a game during Lions' NCAA Division II era.

His last 3-pointer with 37 seconds left got the Lions within 74-72 – the closest they had been to the Tigers the entire second half.

Ouachita Baptist shot just 59 percent from the free-throw line (17 of 29), but the Tigers sank 3 of 4 free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the game.

Ward was one of two Lions to score in double-figures. Crawford came within two points of tying his single-game, career-high, scoring mark with 24 points. UAFS shot just 39 percent from the field (22 of 56) – it was 10-of-34 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 72 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 25).

Ward topped off his first double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds, helping the Lions out-rebound the Tigers by five rebounds (37-32).

Ouachita Baptist, which led by 10 points at halftime (37-27) shot a solid 51 percent from the field (28 of 55), but it was just 4-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.
Senior guard Mahlon Martin led the Tigers with 15 points, while junior guard Trey Harris and sophomore guard Kendarious Smith had 12 points apiece, junior guard Eric Brown had 11 points and senior forward Wesley Franklin had 10 points.

Junior forward Isaiah Harper led a balanced rebounding effort by the Tigers with seven rebounds.
           
MEN'S BASKETBALL
UAFS THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
OUACHITA BAPTIST 77, UAFS 72
Ouachita Baptist         37        40        --          77
UAFS                          27        45        --          72
Ouachita Baptist (2-1): Martin 15, Harris 12, Smith 12, Brown 11, Franklin 10, Stanley 8, Jones 4, Ma. Ward 3, Harper 2
UAFS (3-3): Ward 29, Crawford 24, Williams 9, Ekezie 4, Morgan 4, Hawley 2