BETHANY, Okla.—With a 57-43 win over Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon, Southern Nazarene has now defeated every team in the Great American Conference this season. The win also marked their 20th victory of the season.
After taking a tough 53-48 loss at Arkansas Tech earlier this season, their lone GAC loss this season, Southern Nazarene (20-3, 15-1 GAC) got their revenge over the Wonder Boys (12-11, 10-7 GAC) on Saturday night as they overcame a halftime deficit with a dominant second half performance.
For the second time in three games, the Crimson Storm turned a halftime deficit into a double-digit win. Just as they did one week ago at Ouachita Baptist, Southern Nazarene found themselves trailing at halftime, but came together at the break and completely shut down any hopes that Arkansas Tech had of an upset.
Coming off a game against Harding on Thursday in which the Crimson Storm shot lights out, SNU was forced to find other ways to win on Saturday. SNU knocked down 17 shots from deep on Thursday, but connected on just 5-of-20 (20%) shots from beyond the arc on Saturday. They relied on their defense, which has been SNU's calling card all season. The nation's number one scoring defense at 56.3 points per game limited Arkansas Tech to just 14 second half points.
The game was still tight with seven minutes to play. After SNU built a five-point lead, Arkansas Tech got back within a possession at 46-43 with just 6:48 left to play. That was the final point the Wonder Boys scored in the game as the Storm defense stiffened and allowed SNU to close the game on an 11-0 run.
Free throws helped Southern Nazarene close out the win. They shot a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second half to seal the win.
Tyler McGhie put together another excellent performance. After pouring in 22 points on 6-of-7 shooting from deep on Thursday, McGhie added another 23 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the outside on Saturday. In his last six games, he is shooting an incredible .569 from the floor, including .550 from three-point range.
Javon Jackson and Nick Davis also scored in double-figures with 11 and 10, respectively. Jackson also added 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Davis hauled in 5 rebounds.
The win marks Southern Nazarene's tenth straight win, and their 20th overall this season. It is the fifth consecutive season SNU has reached 20 wins, not including the shortened 2021 season.
The win paired with a Southern Arkansas loss on Saturday also increases SNU's lead in the Great American Conference standings to three games. The Crimson Storm could clinch their fourth GAC regular season championship with wins in their next two games over Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Arkansas.
SNU will host rival Oklahoma Baptist on Monday before traveling to Magnolia to take on Southern Arkansas on Thursday. SNU defeated the Bison 80-66 in Shawnee earlier this season. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Monday night inside the Sawyer Center.
