WEATHERFORD, Okla.—The start of Great American Conference play has certainly not gone the way Southern Nazarene hoped as the Crimson Storm dropped their fourth straight GAC game 77-72 on Tuesday night in Weatherford to Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Southern Nazarene (4-5, 0-4 GAC) has gone into a funk over the past couple of weeks. Since earning a win over nationally ranked Dallas Baptist on Nov. 27, the Storm have dropped four straight games for the first time since December 2015. Southwestern Oklahoma State (3-5, 2-2 GAC) notched their second consecutive tight win, following up their three point win over East Central on Saturday with the tight win over the Storm on Tuesday.
It was a solid start for the Crimson Storm in the first half as they built a 31-22 advantage, but that lead quickly dwindled to just a 37-36 halftime score following a 14-6 Bulldog run.
The first six minutes of the second half saw three ties and five lead changes between the teams. SWOSU finally grabbed the lead for good with 13:57 on the clock after Tanner Meraz converted a rare four-point play to give the Bulldogs a 49-47 lead that they never surrendered. Southwestern's offense really took off in that second half, improving on a 12-of-28 (42.9%) showing in the first half with a 14-of-26 (53.9%) shooting performance in the final twenty minutes.
The difference in the game came on the glass and at the free throw line. The Bulldogs dominated the boards 40 to 25, including 11 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds. The Storm mustered just 2 second chance points on 5 offensive rebounds. After seemingly fixing their free issues on Saturday, the problems for SNU reared their ugly head once again as the team shot just 13-of-22 (59.1%) from the charity stripe. On the other side, Southwestern took full advantage of their opportunities at the line, converting 18-of-20 (90%) chances at the line, well above their season average of 64%.
SNU saw four players notch double-figures in the game. Jalen Lynn led the way by following up his 18 points on Saturday with 21 on Tuesday. He added 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 makes from beyond the arc.
Not far behind him was Adokiye Iyaye, who notched 17 points on 4 made three balls.
Xavier Bryant and Nick Davis rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 and 10, respectively. Bryant also added 7 assists and 4 steals.
The Storm have one more opportunity to get back in the win column before Christman break. The team travels to Springfield, Mo. on Saturday to do battle with Drury, whom they have already beaten this season. The two squads met back on Nov. 19 in Bethany where the Storm came away with an 80-71 win. SNU will try to do it again, this time on the road. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm on Saturday in Springfield.
