GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 14-12 (11-11 GAC)	SOUTHERN NAZARENE CRIMSON STORM 20-9 (15-7 GAC)
Thursday, March 3 | 2:15 p.m. FireLake Arena | Shawnee, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES

Coming off a win on the road over Southern Arkansas, Arkansas Tech looks ahead to the GAC Tournament this weekend.

The Golden Suns enter as the No. 7 seed and will play their quarterfinal matchup of the Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. against the No. 2 seed Southern Nazarene. If they win, the Golden Suns will play again on Saturday in the semifinals and will face the winner of Harding and Northwestern Oklahoma.

The Golden Suns got a big win in their first game of the season against Southern Nazarene on the road 80-52. In their second game of the season, the Crimson Storm managed to squeeze out a 59-56 win over the Golden Suns in Tucker Coliseum in front of the home crowd.

Finishing 14-12 overall on the regular season, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience. Their 94-84 win against Southern Arkansas at home showed how elite the Golden Suns can be when scoring the ball.

Against East Central on the road, the Golden Suns found some hot shooting as the team hit 44.4% of their shots from long range to end the Tigers five game win streak.

The Golden Suns had their best performance of the season against Southern Nazarene on the road where they controlled the entire game and won 80-52. Three members of the Golden Suns hit double figures in scoring, all above 15 points or more. The team also shot a season high 60.0% (6-of-10) from three.

TECH TIDBITS

Arkansas Tech enters the GAC Tournament finishing the regular season with a 14-12 overall record and an even 11-11 record among conference opponents. Their regular season finale ended on a high note as the Golden Suns picked up a solid 80-65 road win over Southern Arkansas to secure their spot in the conference tournament .

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 73.6 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank ninth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 71.5 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are fifth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .423 (695-of-1643) and are limiting their opponents to a .399 mark (653-of-1637) to rank ninth.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .324 (146-of-451) to rank seventh in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .331 (172-of- 519) to rank eleventh. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .737 as a team (379-of-514) to rank fourth.

Individually, the Golden Suns have three players averaging double figures in scoring. Kaley Shipman leads the way at 16.2 ppg. Jayana Sanders is next at 14.2 ppg. Rounding out the list of the double figure scorers for Arkansas Tech is Ashlei Lopez who is averageing 13.3 ppg .

The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 15th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 326-107.

Overall in his time at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing seven conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to nine NCAA Regional Tournaments.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM

Southern Nazarene enters Thursday's quarterfinal game finishing the regular season with a 20-9 overall record with a 15-7 record in conference play and are coming off a 55-71 loss at home against Southwestern Oklahoma State.

In their first game against the Golden Suns this season, the Crimson Storm lost 52-80 in Bethany. The Crimson Storm edged out a 59-56 win in Tucker Coliseum over Tech in the second game of the season.

Statistically this season, the Crimson Storm average 67.5 ppg on offense to rank tenth in the GAC and give up an average of 56.6 ppg to rank first in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SNU shoots at a .411 clip overall (728-of-1773) to rank eighth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .363 (573-of-1580) to rank first.

From three-point range, the Crimson Storm shoot at a .280 clip (130-of-464) to rank last in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .291 (130-of-446) from range to rank second. At the charity stripe, the Crimson Storm shoot .629 (374-of-595) to rank last in the GAC.

Individually, the Crimson Storm have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Cassandra Awatt who is averaging 13.4 ppg and 8.4 rpg. Jaycee Soap is the other double figure scorer for SNU at 11.1 ppg. The Crimson Storm also have the best shot blocker in the conference in Abby Niehues who is averaging 3.0 bpg and has accumulated 87 total blocks this season.

The Crimson Storm are coached by Trent May, who is in his fourth season at the helm of Southern Nazarene. In his time as the Crimson Storm's coach, May has amassed a 66-40 overall record and a 53-29 conference record.