BETHANY, Okla. — After not meeting for nearly two years due to COVID-19 protocols last season, Southern Nazarene welcomed Arkansas Tech back to the Sawyer Center for the first time in a long time and the result was not as the Storm had hoped.
Suffering the implications of the coronavirus over the winter break, the Storm (7-5, 2-3 GAC) finally laced up for the first time in 2022 only to fall to the Golden Suns (7-3, 4-2 GAC) in an 80-52 loss on Bobby Martin Court, something Storm fans aren't used to seeing in Bethany.
In SNU's last meeting with Tech, second and third quarter shooting troubles led the Storm to a 21 point loss over in Russellville. It seemed the trend continued years later as SNU shot 20 and 23 percent in the second and third quarters respectively leading to a low 28 percent shooting night overall.
The first quarter was controlled by the Storm most of the way through as their hot shooting pushed them up 17-5 late in the first. Tech answered in the final minutes, but SNU came away with a 17-12 start to what would be one of their last large leads of the evening.
Everything went downhill for the Storm from there. After a couple of SNU turnovers and struggles with transition defense, Tech achieved their first lead of contest at 21-20 midway through the second period. The Golden Suns saw themselves at the free throw line late in the second, giving them the eight point lead over the Storm at halftime (33-25).
The Golden Suns continued their push after the break and managed to hit their largest lead of the night at 10 just two minutes into the third. Turnovers and fouls would keep the Storm from within reach and Tech ended the third with a monstrous margin over the Storm at 59-37.
With one quarter left on the contest and down by 21, SNU continued to fight. Seeing the most free throw attempts they had all quarter, it still wasn't enough as their 3-15 shooting in the fourth kept them from reaching any momentum and Tech came away with 80-52 victory in Bethany.
With Jaycee Soap out for the contest, the Storm missed out on some key buckets. Teammate Kennedy Gillette led in the scoring column scoring 13 on the night along with eight rebounds.
Cassandra Awatt was not far behind her as she was the only other Storm member to reach double figure scoring. Awatt scored 10 to go along with nine rebounds and three assists.
Veteran point guard Alexus Jones hit the 1000 point milestone late in the fourth as she chipped in seven points and two rebounds.
Niehues struggled on the offensive end, but added to the defensive fight with her three blocks and four rebounds.
Off the bench, Lillie Smith added seven points.
The Storm are back inside the Sawyer Center Saturday, January 8th where they welcome Harding for the first time since early 2020. Tip-off is set for 1:00 PM.
