Basketball Teams Split With Southern Nazarene

A tip-in by senior Keith Miller with 0.4 seconds left gave the USAO men’s basketball team a 75-73 win over Southern Nazarene Saturday and, more importantly, a berth in the conference tournament. The USAO women, meanwhile, suffered a 72-66 loss to the Crimson Storm to end their season.

With the two-point win, the Drover men improve to 9-18 overall and 7-11 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Seeded No. 7, USAO will face No. 2 Lubbock Christian at 2 p.m. Thursday in Shawnee. The Drover women fall to 10-19 overall and 4-14 in the SAC, and did not qualify for the SAC tournament.

With the scored tied at 73-73 and less than 20 seconds left, the Miller and junior Romeil Perkins forced Southern Nazarene’s Jerayle Franklin to step on the sideline. The turnover gave USAO a chance for a win and a berth in the SAC tournament.

At just under two seconds left, senior Wayne Gibson put up a 3-pointer from the right side. The shot bounded off the front rim, and Miller was there for the putback and a 75-73 win. It was a tail of two halves, as USAO trailed by for all but about two minutes of the first half, but led by as many as 16 in the second half.

In his last home game as a Drover, Gibson led three Drovers in double figures with 23 points, along with five rebounds and five assists. Freshman Kevin Thames came off the bench for a career-high 18 points and three steals. Perkins scored 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Miller finished with eight points and a game-high eight assists.

In the women’s game, USAO battled through poor shooting and a huge free throw disadvantage to stay close to No. 12 Southern Nazarene. The game was highlighted by 15 ties and 19 lead changes, and neither team had more than a six point lead. USAO’s largest lead was 57-51 with 7:01 left. The Drovers stayed within two points until SNU hit four straight free throws to close out the game.

Senior Secrett Stubblefield led three Drovers in double figures with a season-high 26 points and seven rebounds. Junior Katie Sterling scored 17 points and two steals, while senior Christal Merriweather added 14 points and three rebounds.

Seniors playing their final games were Gibson, Miller, Stubblefield, Merriweather, Tony Jimmerson, Martin Washington, Karole Roberts and Kayla Lawrence.