Box Score Box Score

BETHANY, Okla. — With all the unknowns that surrounded the start of the season, hopefully a few questions were answered and another one was confirmed as No. 18 Southern Nazarene fell to NCAA Division II No. 11 Central Oklahoma, 87-83 in overtime.
 
With five seniors and a starter gone from the previous team, there was a little mystery to what product SNU was going to put on the floor, but the Crimson Storm (0-1) brought the Sawyer Center to its feet time and time again in the Friday night opener.
 
SNU flew out to 14-point halftime lead and pushed it to 15 early in the second half, but that was quickly erased in the second half and the game was on. While UCO kept nipping away at the lead, SNU never gave it back in one shot. It wasn't until the 5-minute mark that the Bronchos finally got the game back to one-possession.
 
SNU led 63-59 with 4:24 left when UCO went on a 9-1 run to take its first lead since the 14:14 mark in the first half. UCO led 68-64 with 2:02 left and held a 70-67 lead with eight seconds left.
 
Tyrone Lyons fired a three up to tie the game, but missed and the ball went right into the hands of Daniel White. The senior quickly turned and found a wide-open Adrian Hunter who buried the game-tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime at 70-70.
 
The Bronchos came out quickly in the overtime period and had an 85-77 lead with 2:05 left, but the Storm again made a late charge to cut it to 85-83 with less than a minute to play and a chance to get the ball back after a missed UCO shot with just seconds left. The Bronchos though grabbed the final offensive board and sank both free throws after an SNU foul to put the game away.
 
Jon West finished with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds as 12 points came at the free-throw line. The senior was a perfect 12-for-12 at the stripe. White and Hunter along with Ryan Aaron all finished with 15 points. Hunter was nearly perfect from 3-point range, hitting 5-for-6 from down town. Tyrone Lyons also added 11 points.
 
SNU as a team went 7-for-12, hitting 58.3 percent from 3-point range and shot 42 percent from the field. The Storm also shot 72.3 percent (34-47) from the line and were 18-of-22 from the charity stripe in the second half.
 
The Storm now get a week to prepare for Homecoming when SNU hosts Southwestern Christian for an 8 p.m. game.