BETHANY - The No. 7/10-ranked Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm capped off a tough opening weekend with a 78-64 win over NCAA Tournament participant Washburn on Saturday evening on the second day of the GAC/MIAA Central Region Challenge. The win caps a perfect 2-0 record for SNU against stiff competition.
The Crimson Storm shot 44% from the field, but connected on nine three pointers, going 41% from deep. SNU really got it done on the defensive end, holding a high powered Ichabod team, that scored 99 a night ago, to only 36% shooting from the field and 33% from behind the arc. Washburn was also an abysmal 7 of 17 from the free throw line.
The Crimson Storm forced 13 turnovers including nine steals on the evening and turned that into 10 points. SNU had a 30-20 advantage in the paint.
The Ichabods got the opening basket before SNU scored the next nine thanks to five points from senior
Noah Starkey to open up a 9-2 lead. Washburn closed that gap to 10-8, but SNU used a massive 14-0 run to seize all of the momentum and take a 24-8 lead. Junior
Micah Speight connected on a pair of 3s while Starkey added four more points during the run.
Despite leading scorer
Jhonathan Dunn out in foul trouble, SNU did not miss a beat throughout the first half, led primarily by the scoring ability of Speight as the Crimson Storm opened up a 21-point lead at 34-13 with 5:29 to play in the half.
Washburn would try and get a run to close the half, but buckets from senior RJ Palmer, junior
Logan Hicks, and sophomore
Ashton Charles kept SNU comfortably ahead at 41-24 going into the break.
After missing the majority of the first half, Dunn would start the second half off with a 3-pointer to push the lead back out to 20 and keep the Crimson Storm in firm control. Later in the half, Dunn would connect on another three and SNU took their biggest lead of the game at 22.
Washburn, a team who made the postseason just a year ago, battled back and was able to cut the game down to 10 at the under 8 mark. However, a 12-1 run thanks in part to 3-pointers from Speight and Charles put the game away for good as SNU was back ahead by 21 with under four minutes to play.
A couple turnovers made in manageable for Washburn, but in the end it was Southern Nazarene's night as they treated their home fans to a 78-64 victory.
A night after being a facilitator, Speight stepped up and became the scorer tonight, going for 16 points with four 3-pointers as well as two steals and a block. Dunn poured in 15 with 13 of those points coming in the second half while Starkey had 13 points, seven boards, and three assists. Palmer added 11 points and eight boards while Hicks had nine points off the bench to go with four steals.
For Washburn, Jalen Lewis led the way with 14 points off the bench while Javion Blake pitched in 13 points on the night.
The Crimson Storm start their young campaign at 2-0 and will return to action on Thursday as they will welcome another MIAA squad, but this one is right down the road. Central Oklahoma will make the short trek from Edmond to the Sawyer Center for a 7 PM tip off.
