SEARCY, Ark. - The Southern Nazarene men's basketball team got a dominant defensive performance to go with a 24 point outing from Noah Starkey as they outscored the Harding Bison 41-24 in the second half in an 85-60 win at the Rhodes-Reaves Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson Storm shot 30 of 60 (50%) from the field including 8 of 23 (35%) from deep and 17 of 23 (74%) from the free throw line. On the other end, Harding shot 19 of 59 (32%) from the field and 8 of 20 (40%) from deep. The Bison were 14 of 20 (70%) from the free throw line.

SNU forced the Bison into 22 turnovers while only turning it over 14 times. The Crimson Storm held a 39-37 advantage on the boards and and an 19-8 edge in assists. SNU had 38 points in the paint and 26 points off turnovers. They held the Bison starters to 13 combined points.

After falling behind 4-0 to start the game, SNU went on a 9-0 run to push ahead 9-4 as they began to take control of the paint. Harding responded with a 9-0 run of their own to push ahead 13-9 and held that lead at 16-13 late in the half. 

The Crimson Storm proceeded to go on a 17-1 run as Starkey was dominant during that stretch along with the Crimson Storm defense, forcing numerous turnover during the stretch. SNU took a 30-17 lead going into the under 8 timeout.

Harding was able to push it back within seven with five minutes to play, but Southern Nazarene got a 3-pointer from Micah Speight to go back on top 36-26. Again, Harding scored the next seven points to cut SNU's lead to 36-33, but 3-pointers from Dunn and Speight and a dunk by RJ Palmer put SNU back ahead by 11. A 3-pointer from Harding got it under 10 points, but SNU led 44-36 at the break.

SNU opened the second half on a 16-1 run in the first seven minutes to take a 23 point lead at 60-37 as Dunn and Starkey, along with terrific defense, took complete control of the game. Harding never could recover as they never got closer than 17 points.

SNU held Harding to 24 points on 8 of 32 (25%) shooting, silencing the arena and earning a big bounce back road win. 

Starkey finished with 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting to go with eight rebounds and five blocks while Dunn added 14 points, five assists, and five steals. Speight went for nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists while Zach Johnson scored seven points. Ashton Charles and Palmer each had six points while Morris Wilson, Jr. scored his first-career collegiate points with a 3-pointer in the corner.

Romen Martin scored 19 points off the bench while Gabriel Divic added 14 points to lead the Bison.

The Crimson Storm goes to 13-3 overall and 6-2 in the GAC. SNU will return to action on Thursday as they head to Bison Hill for a huge rivalry match-up against Oklahoma Baptist. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.