BETHANY, Okla. – Cheyenne North turned in a career-high 34 point performance, as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (6-1, 3-1 Great American Conference) held off a fourth-quarter rally by Southern Nazarene (2-4, 0-4 GAC), winning an 89-86 thriller over the Crimson Storm on Saturday afternoon at the Sawyer Center.
 
NEXT UP
The Golden Suns return to action on Wednesday, December 7, hosting No. 14 Drury at Tucker Coliseum. A 5:30 p.m. matchup is scheduled.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Arkansas Tech raced out to an early ten-point lead (14-4) just under four minutes into the game.
• Tech stretched its lead to 12 (16-4) at the 5:21 mark, but the Crimson Storm used a 11-0 run to cut the Tech lead to just one (16-15) with 2:34 remaining in the opening quarter.
• Tech scored the next six points to claim a seven-point (22-15) lead before ending the quarter with a 24-19 lead.
• The Golden Suns kept SNU at arm's length through the second quarter. The Crimson Storm narrowed Tech's lead to one (33-32) with 6:15 to go until halftime, but Tech quickly pushed its lead back to nine (44-35) with 2:11 remaining in the half.
• Tech carried a nine-point (46-37) advantage into the half.
• The Golden Suns' lead was pushed back into double digits early in the third quarter, as a 3-pointer by Danielle Frachiseur gave Tech a 12-point (54-42) advantage.
• Tech pushed its lead to as many as 14 points, holding a 69-55 advantage with 1:02 remaining in the quarter before taking a ten-point (69-59) lead into the fourth quarter.
• The Golden Suns' last double-digit lead came at the 8:47 mark, when a jumper by North pushed Tech ahead 71-61.
• The Crimson Storm turned the tide, outscoring the Golden Suns 15-4 over the next 4:30 to claim the first lead of the game for SNU (76-75) with 4:10 to play.
• Tech briefly reclaimed the lead, but SNU pushed ahead once again with 2:57 to play and extended its lead to as many as three points (84-81) with 1:57 to go.
• SNU's luck would run out, however, as the Golden Suns outscored the Crimson Storm 8-2 down the stretch to reclaim the lead and seal the win.

NOTABLES

• The opening half saw the Golden Suns outshot 57.1 percent to 51.4 percent – SNU connected on 6-of-8 shots (75.0 percent) in the second quarter.
• SNU held a 15-11 rebounding advantage in the opening half, but committed 18 turnovers to Tech's eight.
• The Golden Suns were outshot 48.2 to 47.1 percent for the contest.
• SNU held a 38-29 advantage on the rebounding glass.
• Tech took advantage of 21 SNU turnovers to hold a 21-11 advantage on points off turnovers.
• SNU held a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points.
• North was joined in double figures by Kelsey McClure (10 points) and Anissa Pounds (10 points). Pounds also had five assists in the winning effort.
• Kylie Ladd and Pounds had three steals apiece in the win.

COACH WILBERS SAYS

• On a big late block by Cheyenne North – "I really think she's one of the best shot-blockers in the country. She has really good timing. She jumps late but she has good explosion. It was a big defensive play, and we made some really good defensive plays toward the end of the game."