ADA, Okla.—After getting it done on the offensive end on Thursday night, Southern Nazarene showed they are not just one dimensional by putting together a dominating defensive effort in a 67-50 win over East Central on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Storm (7-5, 2-4 GAC) got their revenge on the Tigers (6-9, 4-5 GAC) who stole the game from a shorthanded SNU squad back in December. The Storm made sure that did not happen again as they built on a 10 point halftime lead to secure the win.
Southern Nazarene played tremendous defense all afternoon. They refused to give East Central any clean looks at the basket and limited them to less than 30% shooting for the game. They built their lead after a 12-0 run pushed the score to 26-14. ECU would never cut the deficit to fewer than nine the remainder of the game.
It was another dominating effort on the glass for SNU. They outrebounded East Central 45-35, their second consecutive game outrebounding their opponent by double-digits.
It was a complete game in almost every facet for the Storm, but free throws continue to be everything but free for SNU. They converted just 2-of-9 (33%) of their chances from the charity stripe and are now shooting just .615 for the season.
Tyler McGhie continues to obliterate teams from the outside. He knocked down another 5 shots from deep on his way to 19 points for the game. He has now hit 20 threes in just 4 games played this season.
Adokiye Iyaye scored 14 points, while Nick Davis and Jalen Lynn rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 and 10, respectively. Davis would also add 8 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Xavier Bryant was all over the court with 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
The two straight GAC wins come at a big time for the Crimson Storm as they now must hit the road for a long week in Arkansas. SNU will be making up two postponements from earlier this season and will play four games in seven days. The road trip begins with a stop in Arkadelphia to take on Ouachita Baptist on Tuesday before a Thursday meeting with Arkansas-Monticello. The Storm then travel to Magnolia for a contest with Southern Arkansas before finally rounding out the road trip back in Arkadelphia against Henderson State. Tuesday's meeting with Ouachita is set for 7:30 p.m. following the women's game.
