Box Score BETHANY, Okla. — The first win in the Great American Conference season for Southern Nazarene also happened to be its first win over a ranked opponent since joining the GAC in an 87-76 win over No. 25 Harding.
 
The Crimson Storm (2-3, 1-1 GAC) got a career-high 34 points out of CJ Smith who went 8-for-13 from the field and hit a career-high 17 free throws which also was the second most in a single game in school history. Smith missed just two of his 19. Smith also had seven rebounds and six steals. The six steals were the fourth most in a single game in school history.
 
"We shot it well and made good decisions tonight," said SNU Head Coach Adam Bohac. "We did a great job of not turning the ball over and took advantage of what we created on defense. CJ works hard to get good shots and does a great job at getting to the line and doesn't miss much when he gets there."
 
Garrett Butler added 13 points off of the bench while Quan Conner and LB Willis each had 11 points. Butler went 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Conner had five assists and three rebounds as well.
 
SNU shot a blistering 53.7 percent from the field and went 8-for-24 from 3-point range. The Storm also shot 80.8 percent from the line, going 21-for-26. The Storm turned the ball over just 10 times and forced 14 turnovers by the Bisons. SNU scored 23 points off of those takeaways and outscored Harding 27-8 off of the bench.
 
Harding grabbed an early 18-8 lead in the first half, but that was as much as the Bisons led as Smith sparked a 15-0 run to lead 23-18 with 8:10 left in the first. SNU extended its lead to 35-25 and were up 37-27 when 3:53 left in the half, when Harding went on an 11-2 run to cut it to one at 39-38 and SNU took a 41-40 lead at the half.
 
Neither team led by led by more than four until SNU used a 10-1 run capped by a Francisco Hukill layup to give SNU a 73-66 lead with 4:45 left. Hukill then buried a trey with 2:03 left to put the Storm up 79-69 and SNU kept Harding at bay from there.
 
"Our bench play was huge down the stretch," said Bohac. "Cisco and Starkey did a great job of getting scores late and those were timely buckets. Garrett came off the bench with some confidence and started hitting. This is a great win moving forward."
 
The Storm now get set to travel to Central Oklahoma for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game Friday.