BETHANY, Okla. — For the second straight game Southern Nazarene had five players in double figures, but this time SNU picked up its first win of the season, an 83-70 win over Henderson State.
 
The Crimson Storm (1-2, 1-0 GAC) opened Great American Conference play with a win for the second straight season as LB Willis led the way with a season-high 23 points. The junior also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. He went 9-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-5 from 3-point range.
 
Garrett Butler, CJ Rodriguez and C.J. White all had 13 points while Francisco Hukill had 10. Rodriguez had six assists and four rebounds while White had six rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
 
SNU shot 53.1 percent from the field in the first half and hit seven of its eight 3-pointers in the opening half before finishing at 48.3 percent from the field. The Reddies (0-3, 0-1 GAC) shot 41.4 percent from the field and went 5-for-13 from 3-point range.
 
It didn't take long for SNU to get out to a 24-5 lead in the first half, but that was SNU's biggest lead of the night. The Storm matched it at 37-19 with 6:26 left in the first, but Henderson closed the half with a 15-10 run to make it 47-33 at the break.
 
The Reddies opened the second half with a 13-4 run to closed it to 51-44, but Rodriguez sparked a 9-3 run to put SNU back up 60-47 with 12:01 to play. HSU cut it to single digits twice more before Hukill completed a tradition 3-point play to give SNU a 65-53 lead.
 
Henderson answered again with seven straight to come as close as they had been since the opening minutes at 65-60 with 6:39 to play. Willis scored the next six points as part of an 8-0 run to give SNU a 73-60 lead with 3:28 left and the Storm held on from there.