Box Score OLATHE, Kan. — It might be time to rename the Thanksgiving Nazarene Classic to the Southern Nazarene Invitational after SNU won the holiday tournament for the third straight year.
The Crimson Storm (3-1) have been in the final all four years of the tournament and won six straight in the tournament to close out the four-year run at 7-1.
Ryan Aaron scored a season-high 26 points and added 12 rebounds for one of the first double-doubles of the season.
Tyrone Lyons notched the other double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
Quan Conner and
Brady Burford each had career-highs as Conner notched 19 points while Burford had 18. Conner added five assists while Burford was just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.
The Storm shot 54.1 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range going 5-for-8. SNU also out rebounded the Pioneers 43-39.
It didn't take long for MidAmerica Nazarene to take a 22-9 lead, but
Ryan Aaron free throw followed by a
Brady Burford put back woke up the Crimson Storm offense. The Crimson Storm used a 24-11 run capped by a
Tyrone Lyons bucket to tie it at 33. SNU then trailed 42-39 when Lyons hit two straight to give the Storm their first lead since the first basket of the game. MNU answered with five straight before Burford hit a buzzer beater to cut the lead to 47-45 at the half.
The Crimson Storm fired out of the gate in the second half scoring the first 12 points. The Crimson Storm extended the lead to 63-49, the largest of the night, with a
Quan Conner 3-pointer. SNU held an 85-74 lead with 1:34 left, but MNU started chipping away quickly. The Pioneers cut it to 86-77 with 1:10 left and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut it to 86-83 with 47 seconds left.
After SNU was called for an offensive foul, MNU took possession with 20 seconds left to play. The Storm forced a jump ball with four seconds left and MNU tried to fire a three with just seconds left, but Lyons picked up his fourth block of the game to seal the win.
The Storm now get set to open Great American Conference play, Thursday, at Arkansas Tech at 7:30 p.m.
