EDMOND, Okla. — After a day spent feasting on one type of poultry, Southern Nazarene took down another member of the fowl family Saturday, defeating Oklahoma Christian, 70-62, at the Payne Athletic Center.
One week after a tough road loss to East Central, the Crimson Storm (6-3, 1-1 GAC) went into Saturday's rivalry game with the Eagles (2-4, 1-1, LSC) looking to get back on the winning track. It took some time, but a late second-half run gave SNU firm control and a second straight win in the series. The first 30 minutes of the game were played in a seven-point window, as neither team could put any distance between the other. SNU's biggest lead to that point was four points and the Eagles only led by as many as three. Oklahoma Christian's Dedrian Parmer knotted the score at 46 with 9:48 remaining and it was at that point the Crimson Storm made their run. The next five minutes saw the Crimson Storm rattle off a 15-3 run, with all 15 points coming from Micah Speight and Manny Dixon. The run gave SNU a 61-49 lead with 4:28 to play, and although the Eagles cut the lead back to single digits, the Storm never let the Eagles get closer than the final margin of eight points.
Speight led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Speight hit five of his 3-pointers in the second half, part of a 64 percent shooting performance for the Crimson Storm after halftime. Speight also had five assists and five steals and played the full 40 minutes against the Eagles. Dixon had a tremendous showing, putting in 14 points and six rebounds. With the OC zone defense limiting the Storm's ability to find open looks, Dixon was able to knife inside for easy buckets and also went 3-for-4 from the foul line, all in the second half.
The zone also forced SNU to run a lot of offense through Morris Wilson at the high post. The sophomore performed the role beautifully, dishing out five assists and could have had several more if not for a few near-misses at the rim. Wilson also had a game-high nine rebounds and chipped in nine points. Jhonathan Dunn was very limited by the OC defense, scoring just nine points on 4-of-8 shooting. Dunn didn't lack for contributions, though, as he distributed four assists and also had three steals defensively. Parmer led the way for Oklahoma Christian with 16 points and seven rebounds. Anthony Johnson was the only other player in double-figures for the Eagles, finishing with 12 points.
The action was tight and intense in the first half, as neither team could distance itself from the other. SNU struggled from the field, shooting 42.9 percent, but went into the locker room with a 27-26 lead. The first 10 minutes of the second half were more of the same. SNU threatened to break the game open on multiple occasions, but every time, the Eagles had a response to keep the game close. It wasn't until Speight and Dixon took over that SNU finally grabbed control.
SNU will get back to conference play at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7 when they take on Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford.
