SEARCY, Ark. — Southern Nazarene knew it could win its first Great American Conference title outright with a win Saturday and some help. The Crimson Storm did their part with an 82-60 win at Harding, but Northwestern Oklahoma State picked up a 65-63 win at Southern Arkansas.
 
The Storm (20-1, 17-0 GAC) now have a chance to win the GAC title outright Thursday night in front of its home fans after clinching a share Saturday afternoon. The win also gives SNU its first 20-win season since the 2011-12 season and the first since joining Division II.
 
Jhonathan Dunn scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down eight rebounds. He was 11-for-21 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. He was also 5-for-7 at the line. Quaylon Newton notched his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He was 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 at the line. Micah Speight nearly had a double-double with 11 points and eight assists. He also had three steals and a block.
 
Noah Starkey added 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks.  Those five blocks pushed him over 100 for his career to become just the third player in school history to hit the century mark for blocks. Starkey now stands third all-time in school history with 101 and needs three more to catch Andrew Hill for second. Vernon Johnson holds the school record at 107.
 
SNU got to the line 26 times and hit 22 of those attempts. The Storm shot 45.9 percent from the field and went 4-for-13 from 3-point range. The Bisons shot 43.1 percent from the floor and went 6-for-11 from downtown.
 
The Crimson Storm trailed at the half 35-33 as they were held to just 29 percent shooting from the floor. Harding on the other hand went 12-for-24 from the field and 5-for-8 from downtown. SNU was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
 
SNU opened the game on a 10-2 run, but that was the biggest lead of the first half. Harding answered with a 14-5 run to take its first lead of the game at 16-15 with 8:37 left in the first half. SNU retook the lead and pushed it to 25-21 with 4:23 remaining, but the Bisons went on a 13-4 run to take their largest lead of the half at 34-29 with 1:33 on the clock.
 
The Bisons pushed it to 40-35 early in the second half, but a Noah Starkey layup sparked an 18-6 run by the Storm as they took a 53-46 lead with 13:56 to play. Harding cut it to 55-52 with 11:31 to play, but a Speight trey ignited a 15-4 run to lead 70-56 and the Storm held the Bisons off from there.
 
SNU held the Bison to just 37 percent from the field in the second half and just 1-for-3 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. The Bisons were also just 10-for-17 from the line. SNU scored 23 points off of 16 Harding turnovers while giving up just 12 points of its 14 turnovers. The Storm also scored 13 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds. SNU gave up just one offensive rebound the entire night.