MAGNOLIA, Ark. — While the Sawyer Center has been the friendly confines for Southern Nazarene this year, the road has been somewhat of a struggle. SNU entered Saturday's game 1-4 away from Bethany, but picked up its second road win of the year with in a 62-52 victory at Southern Arkansas.
 
The Crimson Storm (7-5, 4-2 GAC) got 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks out of Noah Starkey, who was 5-for-9 from the floor. Deshon Portley also added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. LB Willis chipped in with nine points while C.J. White and Jhonathan Dunn each had eight. SNU went 26-for-63 from the field and 3-for-17 from beyond the arc. SNU went to the line just 10 times, but was 7-for-8 in the second half. The Storm needed all 40 points it scored in the paint as they hit just two from 3-point range in the first half and went 1-for-8 in the second.
 
SNU held Southern Arkansas to just 31.1 percent shooting from the floor and 4-for-14 from outside. The Storm also out rebounded the Muleriders (6-6, 4-2 GAC) 45-39 and got 10 second chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.
 
The Storm led for nearly 30 minutes of the game, but didn't push its lead to double digits until the 8:18 mark in the second half. SNU led by as much as nine on multiple occasions throughout the game and had an early 20-11 lead with 8:27 remaining in the first. Southern Arkansas scored nine straight to tie it at 20 with 6:16 in the first before SNU took a 26-24 lead into the break.
 
SNU opened the second half with a 10-3 run to lead 36-27, but couldn't run away from the Muleriders. A Portley 3-pointer  gave SNU a 49-39 before Quaylon Newton gave the Storm its biggest lead up to that point with a layup to make it 53-42 with 5:46 to play.
 
Southern Nazarene led 57-47 with 3:50 left when SAU scored five straight to cut it to 57-52, but the Storm hit five free throws in the final minute to put the game on ice.