BETHANY, Okla. – OCU was everything that Southern Nazarene could handle as the Crimson Storm squeaked by with a 71-69 win Saturday at the Sawyer Center.
The Stars finish the regular season with a 17-13, 10-12 in the Sooner Athletic Conference while Southern Nazarene, ranked 15th in NAIA Division I men’s basketball, head into the conference tournament at 23-7, 16-6.
OCU is hosting the SAC Tournament that will be held March 3-5 at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars squeezed into the tournament field with the eighth seed. OCU will face top-seeded and 10th ranked Oklahoma Baptist in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening.
“It is not the way we would have liked to have gotten into the tournament, but the guys really worked hard today,” OCU coach Kevin Morrissey said. “The guys really gave us a great shot today to win at Southern Nazarene and it just didn’t happen for us, but we’re excited to get into the tournament. It’s a new season for us now and we will be ready to play.”
Nate Flowers, a senior from Waldorf, Md., picked up his 16th double-double of the season. Flowers led the Stars with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the contest. He added four assists and a team-high three steals in the loss. Fellow senior Dee Proby, from Round Rock, Texas, added 15 points and six rebounds.
“Nate has been just solid for the most part all year, and what a big game for him,” Morrissey said. “He just is all heart and does a great job. His rebounding is so important, and he had a good game.”
The Stars and Crimson Storm waged a see-saw first half which saw six lead changes. Southern Nazarene took a one point lead into the locker room after Jon West slammed home a dunk with 28 seconds remaining in the half. The Crimson Storm held a 34-33 advantage midway through the game.
“I really felt like those guys had great effort,” Morrissey said. “We had a game plan and they executed it for the most part. We wanted to dictate tempo and limit their run-outs. I felt like everyone was hooked up and I was really pleased with the team effort.”
The second half started much of the same until Southern Nazarene opened up a 54-45 lead with 11:39 to play. OCU went on a 10-0 tear highlighted by a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers by Proby to take a 59-54 lead with 6:55 remaining. The five point Stars lead was their largest of the night.
A long-range shot by Southern Nazarene’s A.J. Thomas with 1:28 to play gave the Crimson Storm back the 65-62 lead, which they would never relinquish. The final 22 seconds of action saw 13 total points of offense between the two teams.
OCU’s Cesar Cuevas went to the line with three seconds remaining and the Stars down three. Cuevas made the first, intentionally missed the second and the Stars picked up an offensive rebound. Last-second shot attempts by Cuevas and Moton missed the mark as Southern Nazarene escaped with the 71-69 win.
The Stars outshot the Crimson Storm 47 to 42 percent from the field, but Southern Nazarene got to the free throw line eight more times than OCU and was 17-of-23 from the stripe. Southern Nazarene had four scorers in double-figures, led by 18 points from Thomas.
“It just came down to a few rebounds,” Morrissey said. “When we were down by nine points, guys could have quit and they didn’t. They battled back even to take a lead, and unfortunately we were not able to sustain that lead. Overall, I was really pleased with their effort, and everyone just did a great job tonight.”
Leave a Reply