BETHANY, Okla.—The shots were falling from everywhere on the court for the Crimson Storm on Saturday night as Southern Nazarene closed out the regular season and honored seniors Jackson Rothwell and Karsten Berg with an 82-63 throttling of Southwestern Oklahoma State on Senior Day inside the Sawyer Center.
Southern Nazarene (19-9, 14-8 GAC) knocked down a season-high 15-of-27 (55.6%) shots from deep on their way to a blowout victory. Southwestern (11-16, 10-12 GAC) quickly fell behind double-digits and never recovered as SNU held at least a 15 point lead throughout the entire second half.
Of SNU's incredible 15 made three-balls, 12 came off the hands of Adokiye Iyaye and Tyler McGhie. The duo each connected on six shots from the outside as Iyaye finished with 25 points and McGhie would add 18. SNU's other three makes from deep were courtesy of Manny Dixon, who poured in 16 points for the second consecutive game.
The Crimson Storm controlled the game from the opening tip. They rattled off a 10-0 run after the game was tied at 6-6 and never looked back. The Storm then closed out the first half on a 14-2 run and carried a commanding 44-24 lead into the break.
For the game, the Crimson Storm knocked down 56% (28-of-50) of their shots from the field, their second highest percentage of the season. They also shot over 80% from the charity stripe for the fourth consecutive game, and over 75% for the ninth straight game.
Knocking down such a high percentage of shots requires excellent ball movement, and that was certainly the case for Southern Nazarene on Saturday. Of their 28 made shots, 20 came off of assists, another season-high.
A game like this is exactly what SNU wanted to close out the season as they prepare for the Great American Conference tournament. With the win, the Storm locked down the No. 4 seed in the tournament and are set to face off against the No. 5 seeded Reddies of Henderson State.
The old adage says that it is hard to beat a team three times in one season, but that is exactly what Southern Nazarene will need to do in order to advance in the tournament. SNU defeated Henderson by six points in back-to-back games during their stretch of ten straight wins in January. The teams will meet on Friday at 12:00 p.m. at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee for the GAC Quarterfinals.
