BETHANY, Okla. — After an electrifying victory of Oklahoma Baptist last Thursday evening, Southern Nazarene faced a tough battle with East Central Saturday, dropping to the Tigers 73-66 in Bethany. 

The Storm (11-12, 8-10 GAC) led the Tigers (11-13, 7-11 GAC) by 10 at halftime, shooting over 50% from the field while already racking up five total threes. A few SNU turnovers and small scoring runs by ECU in the second half allowed them to creep closer and closer to the Storm until they dropped the last nine points of the ballgame to achieve the seven-point win over the Storm. 

The three ball proved to be successful for the Storm in the opening few minutes of the contest as Benno Zecic and Ben Baker-McCann teamed up for three three pointers within the first two minutes of the game. Baker-McCann became lethal on the offensive end, adding in a quick six points by himself to bump SNU up to a 21-9 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the second half. 

It was tough for the Tigers to try and contain the hot offense from the home team as Baker-McCann and Shawn Barthelemy each buried threes for the Storm, propelling SNU to a 15-point lead with just over seven minutes left into the opening half. SNU continued to find openings in the Tiger defense, earning trips to the charity stripe to control a 16-point lead with four minutes left to work with before the break. 

In the final three minutes of the first half, ECU outscored the Storm 8-2, shooting up to a 10-point gap at halftime at 38-28. 

Southern Nazarene continued to keep the Tigers at arms' length within the first four minutes of the final 20. East Central found an offensive groove midway through the second half, sneaking in seven points to come within five of the Storm with 13 minutes left. The Tigers continued to pressure the Storm by dropping even more buckets in to work to a two-point gap with 10 minutes reading on the clock. 

Zecic and Jaxon Edelmayer excited the Sawyer Center with back-to-back threes to work back up to five-point advantage followed by free throws from Barthelemy and Keeshawn Mason that shot the Storm ahead by eight. The Storm kept their distance for the next few minutes, but three consecutive turnovers allowed the Tigers to tie the game at 64 with two and a half minutes left in the ballgame. 

The Tigers were feeling lucky in those final few minutes, sinking in a layup, another three-pointer, and four free throws that were able to do the lasting damage on the Storm, putting them ahead 73-66 for the victory as the final buzzer sounded. 

Despite the loss, Zecic and Baker-McCann both lured in 18 points for the Storm and combined for 13 boards. 

Barthelemy was hot off the bench with 12 points and four assists. 

Up Next

Southern Nazarene will be back at home to host Arkansas-Monticello on February 22nd at 7:30 p.m. The Storm lost to the Weevils back in January in Monticello by 12 points.