First-half surge carries Southern Naz past ECU men

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Jan. 7—The East Central University men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome an 18-0 first-half Southern Nazarene surge in an 83-68 loss to the Crimson Storm Saturday inside the Kerry Activities Center.

The Tigers dropped to 4-8 overall and 1-5 in Great American Conference play, while Southern Naz improved to 9-1 overall and stayed atop the conference standings at 6-0. SNU has now won six straight games and ECU is on a five-game slide.

Southern Naz 83, ECU 68

East Central got off to a strong start, racing to leads of 12-5 and 18-10. After a 3-pointer from Hudson Linsmeyer, the Tigers still led 24-17 at the 8:22 mark of the first half.

Southern Nazarene made four 3-point shots — two by James Burries and one each from Baron Bracey and Jeremy Golson — in the game-changing 18-0 run. After two free throws from Bracey at the 2:36 mark, the Crimson Storm had built a 35-24 lead.

The Tigers got within single digits when Bryce Woolridge sank a 3-point shot with 1:24 left in the first half. However, Burries hit another triple with 16 seconds remaining to put the visitors on top 44-29 at the break.

The Crimson Storm hit a blistering 10 of 19 (52.6%) 3-pointers in the first half.

Godsgift Ezedinma hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to get the Tigers within 48-36 but Southern Naz pulled away again.

A layup by Colby Henderson capped a 28-12 SNU volley that stretched the lead to 76-48 with 6:20 to play.

Southern Naz finished 15 of 31 from beyond the arc, while East Central sank 9 of 20 attempts. SNU also won the turnover battle 20-11 and scored 28 points off Tiger miscues.

The Crimson Storm finished 10 of 14 from the free throw line and ECU made 5 of 9 attempts.

Bishop Jones led the Tiger offense with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. He made one 3-pointer. Grandberry scored 12 points off the pine for the Tigers, finishing 5 of 5 from the field. Woolridge also reached double figures with 10 points and five rebounds. Woolridge hit a pair of 3-pointers and Grandberry made his…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/first-half-surge-carries-southern-205300252.html

Author : The Ada News, Okla.

Publish date : 2025-01-07 20:53:00

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