BETHANY, Okla. — History has proven that the Southern Nazarene-Southeastern Oklahoma matchup is always an exciting battle, and that lived up to the hype yet again inside the Sawyer Center Saturday afternoon as Southern Nazarene nearly put up a victory on the Savage Storm, but were ripped in overtime by a final loss of 85-77. 

The Savage Storm (13-7,9-3 GAC) were the Crimson Storm's (7-10,4-8 GAC) first conference matchup this season and they were able to secure a win back in November in Durant. SEOSU repeated the win in Bethany on Saturday, but had to work through two 20-minute halves and an extra five minutes of play after Southern Nazarene put up a dog fight the entire period of regulation. Both squads were forced to battle through 11 lead changes and eight ties, but Southeastern turned up their offense in the final few moments, stealing the eight-point victory from Southern Nazarene for their ninth GAC win this season. 

SNU felt the pressure of a solid SEOSU offense early in the first half, but two threes from Jaxon Edelmayer and Cam Slaymaker turned a nine-point deficit into five within the first seven minutes of play. Zecic felt the fire from his teammates and used it to knock down back-to-back long balls to help put SNU behind 20-19 with the halfway point. The Savage Storm were not going down easy and they kept up their lead for the majority of the first half until Zecic and Slaymaker could not be stopped on the offensive end, dropping in bucket after bucket to put SNU in the lead at 33-32. 

In the final few possessions, the two teams traded points and were forced into a tie at halftime, heading to the locker rooms each with 34 points. 

The back-and-forth affair continued into the next 20 minutes with SNU's offense able to answer every attack from the Savage Storm. A quick 5-0 run by SNU allowed them to maintain a four-point lead seven minutes in, but SEOSU was quick with a response. Nearly an entire three minutes passed and neither team was able to tack on a point to the scoreboard, but Southeastern  dropped in another three ball to reclaim the lead at 55-54 with just over eight minutes left in the ballgame. 

A few free throws from the Savage Storm put SNU in a five-point hole, but Slaymaker, Ben Baker-McCann, and Keeshawn Mason added on a few points to SNU's side of the score and the soon they were behind by just a single point with three minutes left in the final half. With a minute and a half left in the half, Benno Zecic tied the game at 68-all, forcing SEOSU to take a timeout. A costly Savage Storm foul put Mason at the line and he swished both free throws, giving SNU the two-point lead with under a minute left to play. 

Southeastern was forced to foul again when SNU received bad possession, but Zecic missed both, leaving one final opportunity Southeastern to tie the game. The Savage Storm's Kyle Leslie had an open lane and sunk in a layup to tie the game at 70-70 with eight seconds left. Both teams traded misses in the final few possessions, forcing the game into extra play as regulation ended in a 70-70 tie. 

Zecic began overtime with a huge three to give the Storm a small edge, but a few Crimson Storm turnovers put the Savage Storm in front 79-73 two and a half minutes left in the extra period. A few free throws from Slaymaker and another Zecic bucket allowed SNU to creep back within five at 82-77, but the single minute remaining put pressure on Southern Nazarene. SEOSU knocked down another jumper to get ahead by seven, and the Crimson Storm were forced to foul to slow down the game clock. 

Unfortunately, the remaining offensive possessions for SNU were unsuccessful, and SEOSU claimed the final point of the ballgame by a free throw, which rewarded them the final 85-77 victory in Bethany. 
Despite the tough loss, Southern Nazarene posted some statistical high notes against Southeastern, out-rebounding them 41-32 and finishing 28-59 from the field.
 
Zecic led with a season-high 28 points and six assists for the Storm. 

Visser and Slaymaker each grabbed 15 points while Baker-McCann recorded another double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. 

Up Next

Southern Nazarene will look to get back on track next week as they are set to host Ouachita Baptist on Thursday February 1st with a 7:30 tip time.