WEATHERFORD, Okla. – After suffering back-to-back losses on Monday and Thursday night, Southern Nazarene needed a refresher to get them back on track on the road Saturday afternoon. SNU got just that, as they took down Southwestern Oklahoma State 81-74 inside the Pioneer Cellular Arena.
The win moved the Crimson Storm (5-4, 5-4 GAC) to 4-1 on the road this season, the best road record in the entire Great American Conference. After scoring less than 60 points in each of the last two contests, SNU's offense came alive in Weatherford as they shot 47.2 percent from the floor, including knocking down 11-of-27 (40.7%) from 3-point territory. The Storm are now 3-0 this season when they make 10 or more 3-pointers.
After shooting over 50 percent from the field in the opening half on their home floor, the Bulldogs (5-4, 5-4 GAC) were held to 41 percent in the final 20-minutes as the Storm's stifling defense held SWOSU to just 3-of-14 (21.4%) from downtown. Head coach
Adam Bohac and company also forced 16 turnovers out of the Bulldogs and converted those to 25 points on the other end. SWOSU won the rebounding battle 41-35 but SNU's 12 steals were the difference maker in the end.
Junior guard
Adokiye Iyaye's strong play this week carried over into Saturday as he led the way in scoring for Southern Nazarene with 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from 3-point land. He also went 7-for-11 from the free-throw line and added two rebounds and a block. Junior
Manny Dixon was also sensational as he broke out of a shooting slump to post 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 3-of-8 from behind the arc. Dixon also added eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Karlyn Kenner was another bright spot for SNU as he finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting while also knocking down 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Mo Wilson II stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals, while
Maik Bouwer recorded six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Xavier Bryant led the way with three steals off the bench for the Storm as well.
Southwestern Oklahoma State came out hot in the opening 20 minutes on their home floor as they shot 53 percent from the floor, but Southern Nazarene matched that with a 44.8 percent clip to hang around. After a back-and-forth half, an Iyaye layup gave SNU a 20-15 lead with 11:50 to play in the opening frame. SWOSU responded with an 18-7 run to take a 33-27 lead with just under five minutes left. The Storm hung around and faced a 40-35 deficit heading into the halftime break.
The Crimson Storm's offense picked up in the second half as they shot 50 percent and knocked down six triples in the final 20 minutes. They held SWOSU to 41 percent including just 21 percent from 3-point territory. Eight minutes into the second half, a Dixon 3-pointer gave SNU a 55-49 lead before Iyaye knocked down a three with 7:45 to play to give the Storm a 64-56 advantage. Southern Nazarene took their largest lead of the game at 71-60 with 5:01 to play and they were able to hold off SWOSU in the closing stretch.
Southern Nazarene will return to action on Thursday night as they host East Central inside the Sawyer Center. Tip-off with the Tigers is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
