Box Score (html)
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Despite leading for most of the first 30 minutes of Saturday's game, SWOSU Men's Basketball team found themselves down 68-65 with 5:45 to play before closing the game on a 15-7 run to earn an 80-75 Route 66 Rivalry victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday.
SNU took their first lead of the second half on a lay in with 6:08 to play and a moving screen by
Ayo Ojo – his fifth foul – gave the ball back to the Crimson Storm, allowing them to go up by three at 68-65. The final minutes belonged to SWOSU and, in particular,
Martell Collins who scored the next five points, giving SWOSU a 70-68 lead that
Juwan Newmen pushed to four, 72-68, with a layup with 3:43 on the clock.
After SNU got a pair of free throws to get within three,
Markeise Champion hit his biggest basket of the game, a three-pointer from the top of the key that made it 77-71 with 2:18 to play. SWOSU kept the Storm at bay the rest of the game, despite SNU pulling within four in the closing seconds.
Collins led SWOSU with 26 points, five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block, outdueling the reigning GAC Player of the Week, CJ Rodriguez, who had 19 points for SNU.
Emeche Wells had 13 points, his highest-scoring outing since January 2nd, while Champion had 12 points and Newmen scored another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"This was your typical February game in the Great American Conference," SWOSU head man
Bob Battisti said following the contest. "It was a hard fought game that neither team deserved to lose, but we had some guys step up and make plays for us in crunch time to make sure we didn't beat. This was a complete team win, but I'm happy for Emeche because that's the best game he's had since getting hurt."
SWOSU (14-9, 10-7 GAC) now sits alone in fourth place of the GAC standings after defeating the two teams – Southern Arkansas and Southern Nazarene – they had previously been tied with during the past week. Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Alva to face Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday night.
