BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene continues to prove their dominance as they survive a physical battle with Arkansas Tech Saturday afternoon, defeating the Golden Suns for the second time this season in the final seconds of the ballgame, with a final score of of 57-54.
Defeating Arkansas Tech once this season in Russellville in thrilling overtime fashion, the Storm (19-4, 16-1 GAC) proved to be the better team once more, coming in clutch in the final seconds with free throws and a huge defensive stop to hand the Golden Suns (13-8, 11-6 GAC) another loss this season.
Both teams shot on the lower of under 40% from the field, but 49 SNU rebounds made a big difference down the stretch, with 17 of those being offensive rebounds to help the Storm achieve 36 points in the paint.
The tightly contested ballgame opened with a 6-0 run by the Golden Suns. SNU quickly went on a run of their own to take the lead midway through at 9-6. The Storm could have created an even larger scoring margin, but they went 0-4 from three in the first and the Golden Suns ended the quarter up by two at 13-11.
Offense between both teams grew cold in the following quarter with a combined 18 points being scored. A single extra field goal gave Tech the lead at the end of the half, putting up 21-20 over SNU.
Both squads found a spark on the offensive end, each shooting near 45% from the field through the first five minutes of the third. The Golden Suns and the Storm battled back and forth, answering one another's possessions in the final few minutes. Tech once again had one more field goal to their name, taking the 37-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Action quickly picked up to start the fourth as both teams continued to go head to head with the exchange of buckets as the minutes went by. Officiating started to control the course of the game with both the Storm and the Golden Suns experiencing some foul troubles down the stretch.
The game teetered between a two-point margin and multiple ties until an Emily Monaghan three ball at the three-minute mark gave SNU a big break, putting them ahead 52-49 with three minutes remaining. SNU stayed ahead as time went by, highlighted by a Payton Jones free throw to put the Storm up by two with 30 seconds on the clock.
SNU picked up another foul to send Arkansas Tech to the line, where they went 1-2 to make it a one point game with 23 seconds left on the clock. Forced to foul, the Golden Suns sent Georgia Adams to the line where the senior swished both to put her squad ahead by three with 22 seconds remaining.
Tech was awarded the final possession in hopes of reversing the score, but SNU came up with a huge defensive stop, contesting a last second shot by Arkansas Tech and recovering the rebound to secure the 57-54 victory.
Hannah Giddey was the offensive spark for SNU, finishing with 18 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.
Emily Monaghan poured in 18 points and six boards while Cassandra Awatt added seven points and nine boards.
The win over Tech makes it SNU's ninth consecutive victory. The Storm look to make it 10-straight in their matchup with rival Oklahoma Baptist on Monday, February 13th at 5:30 p.m. A win on Monday would give SNU a 2-0 record over the Bison this season.
