WEATHERFORD, Okla. - Junior guard
Micah Speight scored a career-high 30 points including 28 in the second half as he led the fifth-ranked Southern Nazarene men's basketball team to a thrilling 84-79 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon as the Pioneer Cellular Events Center.
SNU shot 22 of 57 (39%) from the field and 12 of 34 (35%) from behind the arc. The Crimson Storm got to the free throw line 35 times, shooting 80% at the line. On the other end, SWOSU shot 24 of 59 (41%) from the field and 6 of 21 (29%) from deep. They were 25 of 31 (81%) from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs held a 45-31 advantage in rebounds while SNU forced 15 SWOSU turnovers while only giving it away 10 times. SNU had a 14-9 advantage in assists and an 8-4 advantage in steals. The Crimson Storm got 16 points from the bench.
Jhonathan Dunn came out red hot in the first half, scoring eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the first seven minutes to open up a 15-9 lead over the Bulldogs. With
Noah Starkey out of this contest, Tre Evans began to make his mark for the Bulldogs as he got to the rim and helped build a 23-19 lead with under nine to play.
Down 25-22, Southern Nazarene got the momentum back with a 15-3 run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from
Chris Stephens and buckets from
Zach Johnson,
Ashton Charles, and
Brady Mulkey. SWOSU got a foul at the end of the half, earning three free throws and cutting the deficit to 39-33 at the break.
After shooting 0 of 3 in the first half, but still finishing with six assists, Speight took over. Using aggressive play to earn free throws along with 3-pointers to open up an 11-point lead at 52-41. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Speight later in the half gave SNU their biggest lead of the game at 58-43 with 10:55 to play.
SWOSU battled back as Jamar Sandifer heated up from the field while Evans continued to shine as that 15-point lead evaporated and the Bulldogs evened the game at 63 with 7:07 to play.
Speight responded with a 3-pointer on the other end and got to the free throw line after a missed Bulldog shot, connecting on both, and pushing the lead back out to five. After blowing the roof off the building on a monster dunk earlier in the half, Dunn connected on a 3-pointer and gave SNU an 8-point lead with 4:44 to play.
The team would trade buckets back-and-forth before SWOSU finally got a stop and a lay in to cut it to four. Speight responded with a dagger as he weaved in-and-out of traffic and finished with a lay in and the foul to complete a 3-point play and push the lead back to seven.
From there, it was the free throw game and SNU closed it out, earning a hard fought win on the road to get back on track.
Speight finished with 30 points, seven assists, five rebound, five 3-pointers, and two steals in 36 minutes. He was 6 of 11 from the field and 13 of 16 at the line. Dunn added 16 points and four steals on the night while Stephens had nine points on three 3-pointers. Charles added nine points off the bench while Johnson had seven points and six rebounds.
Evans finished with 40 to go with nine rebounds, but was forced into six turnovers. Sandifer added 16 points and six rebounds to go with two steals.
The Crimson Storm go to 9-1 on the season and 3-1 in the GAC and will prepare for a break from conference play. They will have the opportunity to head to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hoops in Hawaii Classic where eight of the top teams in D2 will meet for a three day event.
SNU will open it up on Sunday, December 16th as they take on Dallas Baptist at 8:30 p.m. CT.
