BETHANY, Okla. — Of the 13 straight games now No. 12/14 Southern Nazarene has won, the last two have undoubtedly have been the toughest of the year. Thursday night proved that as SNU survived in a 76-71 win over Ouachita in overtime.
 
Only four players scored for the Crimson Storm (17-1, 14-0 GAC) in their first overtime game of the year. It is the 12^th straight win inside the Sawyer Center dating back to last season as SNU moved to 9-0 this year in Bethany. That also is the best 18-game stretch to start a season in school history. 
 
Southern Nazarene got a pair of double-doubles from Quaylon Newton and Noah Starkey. Newton notched his third one of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He was 7-for-9 from the floor and had a block and a steal. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive end. Starkey notched his fourth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 
 
Micah Speight led all scorers with 25 as he was 8-for-14 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. He also added four steals and four assists. Jhonathan Dunn finished with 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer late in overtime. He was 8-for-17 from the field and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.
 
The Storm shot 48.3 percent from the field, but were held to 6-of-18 from deep. SNU was also just 14-for-22 from the free-throw line. The Tigers' (8-11, 6-8 GAC) bench accounted for 31 points while holding the Storm's reserves scoreless. Ouachita fired 44.6 percent from the field and were 8-for-20 from downtown. The Tigers were also 13-for-16 at the line.
 
Ouachita scored the first five points of the game, but the Storm went on a 13-3 run to lead 13-8 early in the first half. The Tigers tied it at 17 with 12:23 left in the first when a Dunn trey sparked a 21-5 run to give the Storm a 38-22 advantage; its largest lead of the game. Ouachita scored nine straight to cut it to 38-31 with 1:10 remaining, but SNU pushed it to 41-31 at the half.
 
SNU led 52-41 with 13:06 to play, but the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to cut it to 56-52 with 9:14 left in the second. The Storm pushed it back to 59-52, but Ouachita answered with nine to take their first lead since the 16:57 mark in the first half at 60-59.
 
Ouachita pushed it to 65-61, before the Crimson Storm tied it at 65 with 25 seconds left. The Tigers had a chance to win the game, but turned the ball over and Dunn raced down the court with a last-second floater from beyond the arc, but it kissed off the front of the rim to force overtime.
 
SNU never trailed in overtime, but didn't take a lead bigger than two, until Dunn buried a trey from the right wing to give SNU a 72-69 lead with 41 seconds left. The Storm got a stop on the next possession and Speight hit two free-throws to ice it.