FORT SMITH, Ark. - Despite Midwestern State shooting 62% in the second half, the fifth-ranked Southern Nazarene men's basketball team forced 11 Mustang turnovers and held off MSU for a 77-72 win on Friday evening at the Stubblefield Center on the campus of UAFS.
The Crimson Storm shot 44% from the field at 32% from behind the arc while MSU shot 48% from the field and 24% from deep. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe, shooting under 65%, but SNU came through when it counted most. The Mustangs had a 37-35 advantage in rebounds, but SNU held the advantage in assists at 15-13 and turnovers, forcing 16 and only giving away nine.
It was the
Jhonathan Dunn show to start the contest as he scored 15 of the first 17 points for SNU to open up a 17-7 lead. A pair of 3-pointers from juniors
Logan Hicks and
Chris Stephens opened that lead out to 24-9 midway through the first half.
SNU would maintain the double digit lead as Dunn remained hot from the field along with key contributions, especially from the defensive end.
Midwestern State would heat up from the field and cut the deficit down to five with a minute to play, but the Crimson Storm closed the half with four points from
Zach Johnson and Dunn to take a 39-30 lead going into the break.
The Mustangs came out red-hot in the second half as they went on a 12-3 run to even the game at 42 a piece in the first four minutes. SNU would get contributions from
Micah Speight and
Noah Starkey to build their lead back to six, but MSU did not slow down, as a 12-4 run gave them their first lead of the game at 54-52.
The Mustangs opened their lead to as many at four and held a 60-57 lead with under eight to play in the game.
A 10-0 stretch by SNU ended up being the biggest stretch of the game. It started with a RJ Palmer steal that led to a Speight 3-pointer to even it at 60. Starkey would get back-to-back lay-ins to move ahead 64-60 before Speight put together a beautiful dribble-drive floater which led to a foul and the basket. The free throw from Speight made it a 67-60 game with 4:35 to play.
SNU continued to counter MSU's hot shooting with turnovers and pushed the lead out to eight points at 70-62. The Mustangs had one more run in them, making it a two point game with 1:23 to play, but a beautiful lay-in over two defenders by Speight put the lead back at four.
From there, it was a free throw contest that SNU passed as they closed the game out with an impressive 77-72 win.
Dunn finished with a season-high 30 points including 21 in the first half on 10 of 19 shooting and 3 of 7 from deep. Starkey added 18 points, six rebounds, and two steals while Speight had 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Starkey scored 14 in the second half while Speight had all 13 of his points.
Johnson poured in five points and two steals and was excellent on the defensive end while Hicks had five points and two assists.
Ashton Charles pulled down five boards off the bench while
Brady Mulkey added four.
JaJuan Starks led MSU off the bench with 20 points while Dorian Chatman had 15. Elijah Lee had 13 points and five assists while Gilbert Thomas had a game-high 15 rebounds.
Southern Nazarene moves to 5-0 on the year for the first time since 2014-15. They return to action tomorrow evening as they take on host Arkansas-Fort Smith on their home floor, scheduled for a 7 PM tip-off.
