SHAWNEE, Okla.—A battle of Great American Conference heavyweights went the way of Oklahoma Baptist on Monday night as the Bison knocked off the Crimson Storm 73-65 in Shawnee. Prior to the loss, SNU had won eight straight road contests.
Southern Nazarene (17-7, 12-6 GAC) ran away from the Bison (17-7, 14-4 GAC) back in January, but Oklahoma Baptist got their revenge on Monday night. They were able to outscore SNU 45-33 in the second half on their way to the win.
The Crimson Storm jumped out to an early 17-6 lead as the offense was flowing early. Of those 17 points, 12 came from Adokiye Iyaye, who kickstarted things for the Storm. As the Bison clamped down on Iyaye, it was Tyler McGhie's turn to shine. McGhie finished the night with 26 points on a very efficient 10-of-27 shooting.
Following SNU's 17-6 start, Oklahoma Baptist bounced back with an 11-0 run to tie the game. The remainder of the first half would see the lead change five times before SNU took a 32-28 lead into the locker room. The game as a whole saw eight ties and eight lead changes.
The Crimson Storm held a slim lead throughout the early stages of the second half, but a quick 8-0 burst from the Bison pushed OBU in front 53-45. SNU could never recover from the run as they never got back within a single possession of the Bison.
Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene shot the ball at a very similar clip. SNU shot right at 50% (25-of-50), while OBU hit 49.1% (28-of-57). The Bison outrebounded the Storm 31-24 for the game.
Turnovers haunted the Storm all night. The Crimson Storm came into the game top-20 in the NCAA in turnovers per game but struggled to hold onto the ball on Monday. The Bison forced 14 SNU turnovers and converted that into 20 points off of turnovers.
Despite the loss, Southern Nazarene has officially clinched a spot in the Great American Conference Championships at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee after Southern Arkansas defeated Arkansas-Monticello on Monday night. The Storm will have a chance to bounce back this weekend against both of those teams as SNU hosts Southern Arkansas on Thursday before a Saturday meeting with Arkansas-Monticello. Currently sitting in third, SNU is looking to solidify their place in the standings and earn one of the top seeds in the tournament. Tipoff with Southern Arkansas is set for 3:00 p.m. following the women's game.
