BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene Men's Basketball returned to the Sawyer Center for more conference action, hosting the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State to ultimately fall 82-74. 

The Storm (4-3,1-2 GAC) worked up to a 30-30 tie with the Rangers (3-5,1-2 GAC) at halftime, but SNU's giving up of 50 points and 61 perfect shooting in the second half allowed the Rangers to sneak by with the win, handing SNU their second GAC loss this year. 
Southern Nazarene had a tough first half shooting wise, going 9-26 from the field while committing eight turnovers. The Rangers scored seven of their points off those turnovers and went 42% from field in the first 20 minutes. SNU's six more rebounds and five more makes at the charity stripe made a big difference, keeping them gridlocked with Northwestern at the halfway point.

NWOSU's opening attack allowed them to keep a double digit lead halfway through the  first 20 minutes, leading by as many as 13 points with seven minutes left on the clock. SNU chipped away at the deficit with a 7-0 run and continued to answer every Ranger bucket with an offensive burst in the other end of the court. SNU found some momentum in the paint with just a few minutes remaining in the half, cutting NWOSU's advantage down to just three points at 28-25. 

Tyrell Coleman and Shawn Barthelemy teamed up for the late five points awarded to the Storm and the two squads were locked at 30 a piece at halftime. 

The ties and lead changes continued to impact the game at the start of the second half. The Storm saw a slim three-point edge a few minutes into the half, but NWOSU quickly stole the momentum and powered up a 7-0 run to lead by six with 13 minutes left in the ballgame. Jonas Visser kept the Storm within arms reach with his dominance in the paint, helping SNU trail by just a single point with just over six minutes remaining. 

Visser, Ben Baker-McCann, and Benno Zecic combined for the aggressive offensive attack against the Rangers, eventually stealing the lead once more to gain a two-point edge at 64-62. A few turnovers and some defensive slips put NWOSU ahead once more and slowly pulled away on the scoreboard with just under three minutes to play. The Storm found themselves in a six-point hole with 2:45 on the clock, but Jaxon Edlemayer's long ball helped to cut that gap to three. 

Unfortunately for the Storm, they were left to foul the Rangers for extra time on the clock. NWOSU made all six of their free throws with the 40 second left in the contest and that was just enough to weather the Storm by a final score of 82-74. 

Visser's game-high 22 points contributed to the Storm's overall 40 points in the paint alone. The grad-student also pulled down six boards. 

Zecic also racked up double-digit scoring with 17, going 6-11 from the field against the Rangers. 

Up Next

Southern Nazarene will return to action inside the Sawyer Center on Thursday December 14th to host Dallas Baptist at 3:30 pm.