BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene men's basketball team was at home on Thursday night to face Southwestern Oklahoma State and was looking to get some redemption from Monday. Although SNU was behind on the scoreboard for most of the game, they were able to force overtime and squeeze past SWOSU 79-78 inside the Sawyer Center.
The Crimson Storm (7-6, 7-6 GAC) didn't have their best night shooting as they were just 38 percent from the floor, but they fired a season-high 39 three pointers and knocked down 13 of them. Junior guard
Adokiye Iyaye had an electrifying night against the Bulldogs (6-6, 6-6 GAC) as he led the Storm in scoring with 29 points on 8-of-19 shooting including a career-high 6 made triples. Iyaye also had a double double with 10 rebounds and he also added three assists.
Nick Davis was another standout performer for the Storm with a season-high 13 points and three blocked shots off the bench while
Manny Dixon's 14 points also played a pivotal role for SNU.
Xavier Bryant got his first start of the season and shined as he chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, and a game-high seven assists.
Karlyn Kenner also added nine points, five rebounds, and a couple of assists for SNU as well.
Although SWOSU won the rebounding battle 44-43 over SNU, it was the Storm's ability to force 12 turnovers out of the Bulldogs that made the difference. Southern Nazarene only turned the ball over seven times as they dished out 20 assists on the offensive end. They also snagged 14 offensive rebounds which came in clutch down the stretch for the Storm to stay in the game.
Iyaye hit two threes in the first three minutes of the game to help SNU start out strong as the Storm led 10-5 with 17:01 left to play in the first half. Dixon had a very solid first ten minutes as he led the Storm in scoring with seven. The score stayed very close in the first ten minutes and there were even five lead changes. The Bulldogs started to build a lead over the Storm as they led 33-26 with 5:30 left to play in the half. Kenner made two quick threes to keep the score close as the score entering halftime was 39-33 in favor of the visiting Bulldogs. The Crimson Storm shot just 12-for-32 (37.5%) from the field in the first half of play.
Davis' layup early in the second half brought the Bulldogs lead down to just one with the score 41-40 with 16:30 left to go in the game. Iyaye only scored seven of his 29 in the first half so he was in for a special half as he made a couple of threes in the first ten minutes of the second half as well. The Storm trailed the Bulldogs 64-62 with 2:30 left and were looking for some magic. After the Bulldogs took a 67-64 lead, Iyaye drilled his sixth 3-pointer of the game with four seconds left to tie it up at 67-67. The Bulldogs were unable to hit a game-winning shot, and the game went into overtime.
The Crimson Storm were behind for much of the overtime until Iyaye put in a layup that tied the game 75-75 with 1:01. After another strong defensive stand from head coach
Adam Bohac and company, another Iyaye dagger in the lane gave the Storm the lead at 77-75 with just 10 seconds left in the overtime period. The Bulldogs were unable to tie things up and the Crimson Storm escaped Sawyer with their second home victory of the season.
Southern Nazarene will try and make it two wins in a row on Saturday as they travel to Durant to take on the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm (6-7, 6-7 GAC) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
