Nate Brumfield and Emmanuel Wilson rescued third-ranked Oklahoma Baptist at the free throw line in the final 18 seconds as the Bison withstood Northwestern Oklahoma State 95-91 in Sooner Athletic Conference basketball action Monday in Alva.

OBU saw a nine-point lead dwindle as Northwestern began sinking three-pointers to answer three consecutive 1-for-2 trips to the free throw line by the Bison. Brandon Brown hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to make it a 91-88 game.

Brumfield was fouled less than a second later and converted both free throws.

OBU blocked a three-point try by Brown, but Marshall Bell corralled the rebound just outside the arch and rattled in a three-ball to trim the Bison lead to 93-91 with 5.2 seconds left.

Wilson got to the line and hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to ice the game for the Bison. Northwestern missed a three at the buzzer that would only have made the win a closer score.

"He stepped up there and made them and that was huge the way those guys were shooting. Every free throw was big, but they were going down there making three every time," said OBU coach Doug Tolin.

The Rangers were fighting for their postseason lives, needing three wins this week and losses by Lubbock Christian to make the top eight in the SAC and move to next week's conference tournament.

"It's a shame they aren't going to the tournament because they sure deserve it," said Tolin. "I think their team played a great game and what that means is our guys did more."

Brumfield finished with a strong all-around night with 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals.

"And along with that, our guys made four or five shots because of the way they defended Nate," Tolin said. "That's an amazing night he put together."

Another advantage for the Bison was a 31-of-44 shooting night at the free throw line, compared to 13-of-17 by the Rangers.

"We shot a lot of them. We didn't make the percentage we would have liked. We left a lot of points out on the floor," said Tolin.

Brumfield was joined in double figures in the scoring column by A.J. Hawkins with 19 and Tim Bowman with 15. Bell led the Rangers with 21 points.

Now 26-2 on the season, OBU is in a tie with Southern Nazarene atop the SAC standings at 18-2. Those two teams square off in the Noble Complex at 8 p.m. with the winner claiming at least a share of the conference title and, regardless of how the teams do in Saturday's regular season finale, Thursday's winner will be the top seed in the SAC Tournament and gain the automatic berth to the national tournament.

The winner of Thursday's game would have the tiebreaker edge on the loser. An OBU win would give the Bison the head-to-head tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker is record against the league's teams in descending order. Both teams split with Oklahoma City, but SNU swept Oklahoma Christian.