On March 5, the Southern Nazarene University (SNU) men’s and women’s basketball teams will be taking the court in Bartlesville, Okla. They will be playing in Bruin Fieldhouse for the Great American Conference (GAC) championship. The men’s team is 21-7 overall and 15-5 in the GAC. The women’s team is 15-9 ov
erall and 12-8 in the GAC. Both teams have two more games until they head to the conference championship.
The men’s team is currently number one in the conference standings and is expected to win the conference title. Freshman Ethan Castillo states that “the men’s team should win the tournament and be crowned conference champions.” Castillo says, “I don’t see any team even being a challenge for SNU on their way to the title.”
They also have one of the best players in GAC history, Jonathan Dunn. Dunn recently became Southern Nazarene’s all-time leader in points and is currently ranked first in points per game in the GAC. Dunn is also the 2-time reigning GAC player of the year. Castillo says, “J Dunn is the best player in the tournament by far. There’s no competition.”
The women’s team is currently tied for 6th in the conference standings and is looking to surprise people in the tournament. Freshman Isaiah Diggs says that he “expects the women’s team to shock everyone in the conference and win the conference title.” Sonia Sarda will look to continue to facilitate the SNU offense in the tournament. 
Sarda leads the GAC in assists at 4.9 per game. Diggs says, “Sarda will play the best of any player [at] SNU.” Diggs also says that “Kennedy Gillette should receive a bigger role in the Conference Tournament because her toughness will come in handy down the stretch.” Both of these teams have had amazing seasons and will try to achieve greatness by making their mark in the Conference Tournament. See live updates for the games on Twitter: @SNUwbb.
(Photos by Ben Hershey on Unsplash and SNU)