GAC Communications
Eric Moyer
SHAWNEE, Okla. – Southern Nazarene Men’s Basketball continued to defy the odds in their GAC Tournament run on Saturday, upsetting the top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm by 14 points in the semifinals matchup.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The Savage Storm (23-9,18-4 GAC) have made noise throughout the conference all season long, losing only three conference matchups prior to their meeting with the Storm (16-13,11-11 GAC). Two of their 23 total wins this season came from defeats of the Storm during the regular season, weighing the odds more so towards the Savage Storm on Saturday. The SNU defense along with the scoring efforts from four of the five Storm starters made all the difference in Saturday’s contest, holding Southeastern to just 37 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent from three. Statistics tells these were low points for the Savage Storm and SNU took full advantage, shooting lights-out from the outside with a 54 percent shooting clip and knocking down eight of their 16 long balls.
Southern Nazarene’s winning day began with a quick 7-0 run within the first three minutes of the contest. The Savage Storm were able to respond quickly with an 10-0 run to hold the three-point lead with just under 15 minutes left in the opening half. Benno Zecic and Ben Baker-McCann teammed up for a fast six points to steal back the three-point lead. The Savage Storm caught a quick burst, but the Storm were able to answer and the two squads traded buckets over the next few minutes. Buckets from Zecic and Tyrell Coleman along with two free throws with Keeshawn Mason pushed SNU to a five-point gap with right under seven minutes left before the break.
The Savage Storm fought back and exploded for a 9-0 run to steal back the lead at 29-25, but the Crimson Storm were unphased, using buckets from Baker-McCann, Zecic, and Visser to tie the ballgame at 32-all with a minute-thirty reading on the game clock. Southeastern was able to drop in the final shot of the half, burying a deep three to hold a 35-32 lead heading into halftime.
Visser got SNU off to a fiery start in the second half with back-to-back lay-ins bump SNU in front 36-35. This sparked a full team effort by the Storm who found more ways to score for the 44-37 lead. Back-to-back jumpers and a free throw from Southeastern put them behind the Storm by two. Mason and Jaxon Edelmayer dropped in a few buckets for SNU to widen their gap back to nine with 10 minutes left in the ballgame. The Savage Storm put up a 6-0 run to creep back within three points, but Zecic hit another outside dagger to put the Storm back up six. Both squads went back-and-forth on the offensive end over the next few minutes, but Southern Nazarene sparked an unstoppable offensive scheme as the 2:30 mark hit.
Baker-McCann grew his team’s lead to 12 after a big three ball, and Zecic made it 14 with a fastbreak layup to pull further and further away from the Savage Storm. A few Storm free throws later and SNU was soon ahead by a whopping 15 points with a minute-30 remaining in the final half. A Southeastern three was able to lessen the blow with the final minute closing in, but the Storm kept their control on both ends of the floor. As the final minute ticked down, the Savage Storm were forced to foul and SNU made them made pay at the charity stripe as they built a 13-point lead with 34 seconds left in the game.
Southeastern looked for every opportunity beyond the arc, but couldn’t get anything to fall, forced to foul to stop the clock. Baker-Mcann dropped in two free throws just before a Southeastern three to trail 84-72 with 17 seconds remaining. Coleman swished in the final two free throws of the ballgame to cap off a stellar effort by the Storm as they knocked off the top-seed Savage Storm in the semifinals matchup of the GAC Tournament by a final score of 86-72.
The Storm will now play for the GAC Tournament Championship Title on Sunday, March 10th at 1:00 p.m. against the No. 2 seed Arkansas Tech, a team they have beaten twice this year in the regular season.