BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene couldn't have come much closer to punching a ticket to the Great American Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon, but Ouachita Baptist picked up an 89-84 win in overtime to clinch the GAC regular season championship.
 
The Crimson Storm (13-12, 9-10 GAC) could have secured a spot with a win over the Tigers (19-4, 15-3 GAC), but will now have to wait and see what happens in Thursday's games or just take matters into their own hands Saturday against East Central.
 
Southern Nazarene held a 77-73 lead with 2:45 left to play, but OBU's Tirrell scored four straight points to tie it at 77-77 with 49 seconds to play. LB Willis put the Storm on top 79-77 with a layup with 23 seconds left, but was called for a foul with eight seconds on the clock and Micah Delph hit two free throws to force overtime.
 
It was all Ouachita Baptist in the final three minutes of overtime as they kept SNU at bay.
 
For the second time this year, SNU had six payers in double figures as Anton Kankaanpaa led the way with 17. The sophomore was 11-for-12 at the line and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. Willis finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Jared Starkey and Francisco Hukill each had 12 points while Starkey had eight rebounds and Hukill had nine. Hukill also had three blocks. Garrett Butler and Corey McCrary each had 10 points off of the bench as Butler scored all 10 of his in the second half.
 
SNU went 26-for-58 from the field and were 11-for-22 from 3-point range. The big difference though came at the line as SNU hit just 21 of its 31 attempts while OBU went 19-for-20 at the line. The Tigers also outscored SNU 50-24 in the paint.