SHAWNEE, Okla.—After a tough quarterfinals loss to Henderson State last season, Southern Nazarene avenged it with a 69-58 GAC quarterfinals win over the Reddies on Friday afternoon at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee.
The Crimson Storm (20-9) took care of business as the No. 4 seed by racing past the fifth seeded Reddies (17-12) in the second half. The Storm hit just 33% of their shots in the first half, but bounced back with a respectable 46% showing the second half.
As they always do, Henderson State came out and played incredibly strong defense throughout the game. Their physicality allowed them to build a six-point first half advantage before settling for a slim 28-27 halftime lead.
Despite an 11 point win, the game was much closer than the final score indicated. The lead changed hands 20 times, including 13 times in the second half. The Storm finally grabbed the lead for good at 45-44 and hung on through the remainder of the second half.
Southern Nazarene did an excellent job of fighting through the physical defense of the Reddies. They did not shy away from attacking the basket and their work at the line proved to be the difference in the game. The Storm shot 20-of-25 (80%) at the charity stripe, while limiting Henderson to just 7-of-13 (54%) attempts.
It was a full-team effort for the Storm as they scrapped their way to a win. They saw five different players reach double-figures and were led by Nick Davis's game-high 18 points. Those 18 points also match a season-high for the sophomore forward. He also came through big on the defensive side of the ball, sending three shots back the other way.
Xavier Bryant was excellent orchestrating the offense all afternoon. He notched the first double-double of his SNU career as he poured in 13 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. He even flirted with a triple-double as he dished out 6 assists in the contest.
The other Storm players in double-figures were Manny Dixon, Tyler McGhie, and Mo Wilson II with 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
For the Crimson Storm, they now turn their attention to the No. 1 overall seed and GAC regular season champions, Southeastern Oklahoma State. Southeastern swept the regular season matchups with SNU, but it took overtime as the teams played an absolute thriller down to the wire last time out in Bethany. That was not the only memorable matchup between these teams as the two have consistently battled it out in the GAC and have each won 11 of the last 22 games between the two squads. SNU will look to avenge the two regular season losses and knock off the No. 1 overall seed on Saturday in the GAC tournament semifinals. Tipoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee.
