Late Run Sinks Drovers

BETHANY – A second-half, cold streak cost the University of Science and Arts Saturday night at Southern Nazarene. The Drovers couldn’t buy a bucket during a three-minute stretch as SNU pulled away for a 61-47 win.

The loss was USAO’s third in a row since being in a tie for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Drovers are now 8-11 overall and 4-5 in the SAC.

Like clockwork, the game began with USAO jumping out to a lead. The Crimson Storm, though, worked itself back into the lead and held the advantage at halftime 31-26.

USAO was unable to cut into the lead in the second half as each team answered the other’s buckets. But with a little over six minutes remaining, Jose Nava picked up picked up three consecutive fouls and was forced to the bench. From that point, SNU couldn’t miss and the Drovers couldn’t answer.

The Storm corralled offensive rebound after offensive rebound and chased down loose balls left and right. Each time SNU made a hustle-play, it seemed to end in a score whether it was a good shot or not.

SNU ended the game with a 40.4 percent shooting percentage and 33.3 percent from three. On the other end of the spectrum was USAO, as the team only hit 2-of-25 from three and ended at 30.5 percent from the field overall.

Avery Stevenson tied for a game-high 16 points and added two assists. Marcus Hines and J.J. Walsh scored nine points each and seven assists between them. SNU was led offensively by Brent Freeman’s 16 points. Damjanac Milorad and Cory Hepburn scored 11 each, and Milorad pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

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