ADA, Okla.—Southern Nazarene moved to 2-0 in Great American Conference play with a hard-fought 68-65 win over East Central on Saturday afternoon.
The game was extremely tight throughout as Southern Nazarene (4-2, 2-0 GAC) held the largest lead at just 39-33 early in the second half. East Central (5-2, 1-1 GAC) was able to gain a slight advantage and held a slim lead throughout the majority of the second half, but SNU closed the game on a 7-0 run over the final minute and a half to steal the victory.
The Crimson Storm did a great job all afternoon of capitalizing on turnovers. They turned 9 ECU turnovers into 17 points. None was bigger, though, than Xavier Bryant's steal and layup with just 22 seconds left to give SNU the lead. After Tyler McGhie split a pair of free throws that left the Storm trailing by one, East Central in-bounded the ball, but Bryant quickly swiped the ball from behind and found himself with an open lay-in, turning the game on its head. SNU then forced a missed jumper, leading to a breakaway layup for Manny Dixon to seal the victory.
Dixon and Bryat each came up big for Southern Nazarene down the stretch. Dixon recorded 7 of his 10 points in the final three and a half minutes of the game. Bryant, who scored the go-ahead lay-in, also got the final run going with a nice driving lay-up that cut ECU's lead to just one possession with under a minute and a half to play. He filled up the stat-sheet all afternoon with 8 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Tyler McGhie poured in 17 points in the game as he continued to fill it up from deep. He knocked down four more three-balls in the game. He is now connecting on 44.7% (17-of-38) of his triples this season.
Jalen Lynn added 8 points and 3 boards, while Nick Davis put up 7 points to go along with his game-high 10 rebounds.
The road trip continues for Southern Nazarene next time out as they travel to Alva in one week to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Rangers sit at 3-1 for the season, with one more game to play before meeting Southern Nazarene. Northwestern defeated SNU in both regular season matchups last year. SNU will hope for their revenge on Saturday, December 10. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. following the women's game.
