WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Just before the holiday break, Southern Nazarene traveled to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State where they fell 74-63, dropping their third conference game in a row. 

The Storm (4-5,1-3 GAC) and the Bulldogs (2-7,2-2 GAC) were evenly matched across the stat line, except for SWOSU knocking down a whopping 24 free throws to the Storm's 15. The Bulldogs built a lead early in the contest and maintained it all way until the final buzzer sounded. The Storm came close late in the second half, closing the Bulldogs' gap down to just seven points with just under two minutes remaining. SWOSU escaped with a solid performance at the charity stripe, knocking down four free throws late to ward off SNU with an 11-point victory. 

A few scoring runs early in the first half allowed the Bulldogs to control a slim lead that became difficult for the Storm to chip away at. Cam Slaymaker and Keewshawn Mason became an unstoppable duo in the later part of the first half, dropping in buckets from all areas of the floor to eventually put SNU behind 23-21 with just under five minutes to play. 

SWOSU continued to throw up points on the board with those last five minutes remaining, but Ben Baker-McCann was a force for the Storm on the offensive end, awarding the Storm their last five points of the half by himself and putting SNU behind 28-34 at halftime. 

The two teams continued to trade buckets to open the second half, with SWOSU maintaining at 10-point lead before each squad faced a scoring drought at the 15:00 mark. More than two minutes had passed before either team saw a bucket, but two free throws from the Bulldogs finally broke the seal and put them ahead 49-37. The Storm delivered a great team effort in chipping away at the SWOSU lead, highlighted by a huge Cam Slaymaker three pointer to place SNU behind 10 points with six minutes left in the game clock. 

Benno Zecic was awarded a few trips to the free throw line and gave SNU a seven-point trail with 2:36 left in the ballgame, putting more pressure on the Bulldogs. SWOSU ended up extending the gap again after a few free throws of their own and that gave them the edge they needed to secure the final 74-63 lead over Southern Nazarene. 

Zecic led SNU in scoring with 13 and Baker Mcann followed with 13 and seven boards. 

Slaymaker added in 12 points and Mason finished with 10. 

Up Next

SNU will take a short break from action to enjoy the holiday break, returning to to the court on January 4th in Arkadelphia, taking on Henderson State at 7:30 p.m.