Alva Review-Courier -

BETHANY, Okla.– Hannah Villines' 12-point, 12-rebound double-double was not enough for the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (12-14, 9-11 Great American Conference), as Tech dropped its final road contest of the regular season to Southern Nazarene (15-11, 14-6) 72-59 on Saturday at the Sawyer Center.

NEXT UP

The Golden Suns return to Tucker Coliseum for the penultimate game of the 2018-19 regular season on Thursday, February 28, facing Northwestern Oklahoma in a 5:30 p.m. contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Arkansas Tech opened the game on a 6-0 run and held SNU at arm's length through the first five minutes of the contest, seizing a 15-6 lead with 4:55 remaining in the quarter.

SNU scored the next five points to cut its deficit to 15-11 just under two minutes later.

After an Alicia Mardis free-throw extended Tech's lead to 16-11 with 2:05 remaining in the quarter, the Crimson Storm scored the next five points to knot the contest at 16-16 with 46 seconds remaining.

Tech unknotted the game with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter with a Mardis jumper that gave Tech an 18-16 advantage after one quarter.

Tech broke a 20-20 tie with a 6-0 run that saw the Golden Suns pull ahead 26-20 with 7:24 remaining until half.

The Crimson Storm rallied to tie the game at 29-29 on a free-throw by Abby Niehues with 2:37 remaining in the half, and closed the half on a 11-2 run to seize a 39-31 advantage at halftime.

After Tech pulled to within five points (50-45) with 1:17 in the third quarter, SNU scored the last five points of the quarter to take a 55-45 advantage into the fourth.

SNU continued its run, eventually scoring 10 consecutive points to push its lead to 15 points (60-45) before the Golden Suns got back on the board.

SNU would again push ahead by 15 points (64-49) with 5:17 to play. A 6-0 run by the Golden Suns would cut the deficit to nine (64-55) with 4:10 remaining, but SNU inched ahead and held on for the win.

NOTABLES

Hannah Villines was the only Tech player to reach double figures in scoring, collecting a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double.

SNU and Tech shot identical 39.7 percent from the floor with both teams making 23 of 58 field goal attempts.

SNU was 5-of-19 from long range while Tech was 2-of-12.

SNU took advantage of 31 trips to the charity stripe, making 21 while Tech was 11 of 15.

Tech held a 39-33 rebounding edge.

The Crimson Storm outscored Tech 30-28 in the paint and 11-8 on second-chance buckets, while Tech held a 17-11 edge in points off turnovers and an 8-4 edge in fast-break points.