BETHANY, Okla. — Despite giving up a 17-point second half lead, and trailing by as much as five with three minutes left, Southern Nazarene survived a scare from Southeastern Oklahoma State in a 78-74 win Thursday night.
 
That win, combined with a Northwestern Oklahoma State loss, clinched the Crimson Storm's (14-10, 11-7 GAC) bid to the Great American Conference Championships.
 
SNU led by as much as 18 in the contest and was up 59-42 with 14:24 left in the game. The Savage Storm (9-15, 5-13 GAC) then went on a 30-8 run late to take a 72-67 lead with 3:10 to play, but SNU got a handful of clutch baskets in a game-ending 11-2 run.
 
Deshon Portley, Jhonathan Dunn and LB Willis all played parts in the final minutes for SNU and it was no coincidence that they also led the Storm scoring. Portley notched his third 20-point game of the year  with 20 on 7-for-14 shooting from the field. He was also 5-for-12 from outside. Dunn and Willis each added 17 as Dunn finished with eight rebounds and Willis had four. Dunn was 5-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 at the line while Willis went 6-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-5 from deep. Quaylon Newton also chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds
 
It didn't take long for SNU to push its lead to double digits in the first half when Quaylon Newton completed a 3-point play at the line to cap an 13-6 run to put SNU up 25-15. The Savage Storm got the lead back to eight at 25-17, but Dunn trey sparked 10-0 run for SNU as it took a 35-17 lead. The Crimson Storm matched its largest lead at 39-21 with 4:59 left in the first, but Southeastern Closed with a 10-5 run to make it 44-31.
 
Southeastern extended the run to 16-7 to cut it to 46-37 early in the second half, but SNU used a 13-5 run to take a 59-42 lead with 14:41 to play to hold its biggest lead of the second half. That's when SOSU started its 30-8 run before SNU got two Willis free throws and a Dunn trey to tie it at 72. A Portley trey gave SNU a 75-72 lead and the Crimson Storm hit free throws down the stretch to close it out.
 
SNU shot 41.5 percent from the field and hit nine 3-pointers. The Savage Storm shot 45.3 percent from the field and also buried nine treys, but Southern Nazarene out rebounded Southeastern 42-32 with 18 of those being offensive rebounds.
 
The Crimson Storm still sit a half-game ahead of Harding for fourth place heading into Saturday's game at East Central.