Box Score BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Ouachita men's basketball team second half rally came up just short as they fell 80-66 to seeded Southern Nazarene on Thursday evening.

Ouachita (12-16, 10-12 GAC) was held to just 39 percent shooting on the night as Southern Nazarene (25-2) made almost 60 percent of their shots from the field.  

There were 26 fouls called in the first half of action. The main difference between Ouachita and Southern Nazarene in the first half was Ouachita was just 3-of-12 at the free throw line, while Southern Nazarene went 14-19 from the line.

Southern Nazarene raced out to a 14-5 lead in the opening 5 minutes of play and never looked back. At the 5:44 mark of the half, Chris Stephens slammed the ball through the hoop capping a 17-8 run by the Crimson Storm.

The Tigers made a run late in the first half to close the gap to 37-24 going into the halftime break.

The second half was much more competitive between the two squads as the Crimson Storm narrowly outscored the Tigers 43-42. The Ouachita offense was back to normal in the second half as they shot 41 percent from the field.

The Crimson Storms first half lead was too much too overcome as the Tigers fell by 14 points.

Jontavis Willis (Strong, Ark.) and Mahlon Martin (Little Rock, Ark.) were the only two Tigers to score in double figures on the night.

The Crimson Storm had three players end the night in double digit scoring. Noah Starkey finished with 20 points, Jhonathan Dunn had 15 points and Micah Speight contributed 13 points on the night.

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