BETHANY, OKLA. – The East Central University men's basketball team played a hard fought game, but fell 74-71 to No. 10 Southern Nazarene in Great American Conference road action.

The Tigers (13-9, 11-7 GAC) were led by juniors Gabe McKenzie and Da'Rion King.  McKenzie tallied a team-best 25 points and added four rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.  King netted his fourth double-double of the season, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while adding two steals.

The game started out as a true battle, with neither team leading by more than five points in the first four minutes.  The Crimson Storm (21-1, 18-0 GAC) were leading 17-12 at that point, but that is when ECU went on a 12-0 run to gain a 24-17 advantage, with 11:22 left in the stanza.

The Tigers pushed the lead out to 10 (31-21), with 6:30 minutes left in the first half.  SNU fought back with a 15-9 run in the remaining time, but ECU kept the lead and went into the locker room leading 40-36.

SNU came out ready to fight in the second half and tied the game at 43 in the first 4:30 minutes.  The Crimson Storm kept the pressure up and then used a 13-3 run over the next three minutes to increase their advantage to 10 (56-46).

SNU kept the lead around 10 points until 5:30 minutes remained in the half.  That is when the Tigers started a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to two (66-64), with just under four minutes left on the clock.

ECU kept the game within four points in final minutes and cut the deficit to one (72-71), with 33 seconds remaining.  The Crimson Storm pushed the lead back to three with free throws.  The Tigers had several chances to tie the game in the final 30 seconds, but could not get a shot to fall and fell 74-71.

ECU will return home for the annual Pink Out! game, Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center, hosting Southwestern Oklahoma State.