PLAINVIEW, Texas — It was no secret that Southern Nazarene came into Saturday's game struggling from the free throw line as of late and through three-fourths of the contest with Wayland Baptist the Crimson Storm were just 9-for-16 from the charity stripe.
SNU (12-3, 6-1 SAC) though hit 10 straight free throws in the final 3:22 of the game to pick up a 78-66 win on the road over the Flying Queens (8-7, 2-6 SAC) Saturday afternoon. The Crimson Storm finished 19-for-26 from the line (73.1 percent) shooting their highest percentage from the line since Dec. 30.
With 3:22 left to play, Logan Martin, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit the first of 10 straight free throws to put the Crimson Storm up 65-61, but Wayland Baptist cut it to 65-64 with a trey with 3:02 left to play. That was as close as the Queens came since two minutes into the first half and capped an 18-7 run, but WBU never took the lead.
The Storm closed out the game with a 13-2 run and escaped West Texas with a split.
Martin went 6-for-10 from the field and hit a pair of 3-pointers and missed just one free throw all afternoon going 7-for-8 from the line. She also dished out six assists and grabbed four rebounds. Three other Storm were in double figures as Abbey Marra notched 15 points and 16 rebounds for her conference leading 10th double-double of the season. She also posted three blocks.
Southern Nazarene shot 51.9 percent (27-52) from the field and was 5-for-10 from downtown, bouncing back from a rough night from 3-point range against Lubbock Christian.
The Crimson Storm also won the battle of the boards by 20 out rebounding the Queens, 43-23, with 13 of those coming on the offensive glass. SNU held WBU to just 39 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from downtown.
Southern Nazarene trailed for only the first 1:25 of the game until Martin's first trey of the game gave SNU the lead for good at 5-4. The Storm held a double-digit lead several times in the first half and led 41-31 with less than a minute remaining in the first before a Jessi Howard three made it 41-34 at intermission.
SNU took its biggest lead of 12 three times in the second half including the final score, but never fully put the Queens away until late.
The Storm will end the four-game road trip Thursday, at Oklahoma City, with a 6 p.m. contest.
