SHAWNEE, Okla.—Southern Nazarene earned their third ever trip to the GAC Championship after defeating No. 1 seed, Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday, but they were unable to recapture the magic of their first two GAC tournament championships as Southwestern Oklahoma State shocked the Crimson Storm with a 66-58 win in the tournament finals.
Southwestern Oklahoma State (14-16) seemed to be a team of destiny, knocking off the No. 2 seed, Oklahoma Baptist, No. 6 seed, Southern Arkansas, and finally No. 4 seed, Southern Nazarene (21-10). They became the lowest seed at No. 7 to win the tournament.The Crimson Storm battled all game, fighting through nagging injuries and tired legs, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs earned the victory and their first ever GAC tournament championship.
Early on, it appeared that the Crimson Storm might run away with the game. They caught fire from deep early, burying five treys in the first nine minutes of the game and opening a 19-8 advantage. The Bulldogs clamped down on defense, though, making life extremely difficult on the Storm the rest of the way. SWOSU trimmed the deficit to just 32-29 at halftime and limited SNU to just one three for the remainder of the half.
Scoring got even more difficult for the Crimson Storm in the second half. After knocking down 46% of their shots, including six threes in the first half, SNU hit just 39% of shots and went 0-for-9 from the outside in the second half. Midway through the second half, SWOSU grabbed their first lead of the game since going up 4-3 early. After trading buckets for a couple of possessions, SWOSU's Kamden Gibson drilled a three from the top of the key that put the Bulldogs in front for good. They would build the lead by as many as 10 points as the Storm struggled to convert on their chances down the stretch.
The free line proved to be SNU's achille's heel on Sunday. They converted just 12-of-24 attempts at the line, including just 8-of-15 in the second half.
Adokiye Iyaye and Xavier Bryant led the scoring for Southern Nazarene with 12 points, a piece. Manny Dixon and Nick Davis chipped in 9, a piece. Iyaye and Davis were named to All-Tournament Team for their performances. Iyaye averaged 12 points per game in SNU's three games, while Davis averaged nearly 14 points and 7 rebounds.
The Crimson Storm now await their fate for the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Five at-large bids are given out along with the three automatic bids given to the GAC, MIAA, and NSIC tournament champions. The NCAA DII Men's Basketball selection show is set for 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
