ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Southern Nazarene flipped a switch at halftime as they turned a 28-20 halftime deficit into a 68-56 win over Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia on Sunday afternoon. The win marks eight straight and 16 of their last 17 for the nation's No. 20 ranked team.
In a game originally scheduled for Saturday, but was pushed back one day to accommodate for weather in Arkansas, the Crimson Storm (18-3, 14-1 GAC) battled through adversity again as they overcame a tough first half to pick up the comeback win over Ouachita (10-9, 8-7 GAC).
Turnovers continually killed the Crimson Storm offense in the first half. They gave the ball away 13 times, allowing Ouachita 8 more field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes. SNU cleaned it up in the second half, though, turning it over just 4 times in that second half.
Limiting the turnovers allowed the offense to get in a rhythm in the second half. They converted 12-of-22 (54.6%) shots from the field, including a red-hot 8-of-13 (61.5%) from downtown. Four of those second-half threes came from Tyler McGhie, who got hot late in the game to help seal the victory. McGhie finished with 17 points on five threes.
Freshman Javon Jackson stepped up big while McGhie faced early foul trouble. He opened the second half with 8 points in the first 4 and a half minutes and totaled 15 points in that final 20 minutes. Jackson finished the game with 23 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the outside. It was his sixth game this season with at least 20 points.
Nick Davis recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points to go along with his 10 rebounds.
Mo Wilson II chipped in in a number of areas with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
After struggling from the line on Friday, SNU found their groove at the stripe again on Sunday. The team shot 17-of-21 (81%), with all but 1 of those attempts coming in the second half.
With this weekend's results, Southern Nazarene has already guaranteed themselves a spot in the Great American Conference tournament in March. The top-8 teams qualify for the tournament as the first placed Storm have already built a 9 game lead over 9th place. SNU currently holds a two-game lead, and the tiebreaker, over Southern Arkansas, who resides in second place.
After eight straight wins, including five on the road, Southern Nazarene will now have the comfort of three straight home games over the next eight days. SNU will host Harding on February 9th, before looking to get revenge over Arkansas Tech for handing the Storm their lone GAC loss, on Saturday, February 11th. SNU will then host Oklahoma Baptist on Monday, February 13th. The Harding matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center, following the women's game.
