BETHANY - Whether dunks, 3-pointers, flashy passes, or ridiculous alley-oop finishes, one thing was for certain.
It's good to be home.
After spending nine of their last 11 contest on the road, No. 19 Southern Nazarene returned to Sawyer Center for the first time with a full student body back on campus and rolled Arkansas-Monticello to the tune of 73-49 on Thursday evening in front a "white hot" crowd.
Playing in the White Hot Game, Southern Nazarene moved their home winning streak to 23 games, the third longest in the country among active streaks.
The Crimson Storm shot 28 of 55 (51%) from the field and 7 of 20 (35%) from deep while going 10 of 12 (83%) from the free throw line. On the other end, SNU continued their string of incredible defensive play as they held UAM to 17 of 57 (30%) from the field, 5 of 19 (26%) from deep, and 10 of 13 (77%) from the line.
SNU outrebouned the Boll Weevils 36-32, forced UAM into 16 turnovers, and had 13 assists on the night.
With the crowd buzzing from the introduction of the starting lineups,
Jhonathan Dunn led things off with a 3-pointer to ignite the crowd and push the game into overdrive.
Both teams felt each other out early on as the Crimson Storm held an 11-10 lead, but SNU began to force Monticello into turnovers as back-to-back lay-ups by
Zach Johnson and Dunn, followed by a 3-pointer from
Ashton Charles and an absolutely monstrous alley-oop finish by
Quaylon Newton sent the Sawyer Center crowd into frenzy as SNU was on an 11-0 run to lead 22-10.
That point in the game stunned the Weevils and SNU, and its crowd, took over.
Noah Starkey controlled the post offensive while a lay in from
Micah Speight and another 3-pointer from Charles, as well as free throws on the next possession, push the lead to 19 at 37-18.
UAM got a bucket before half, but SNU still had all of the momentum, leading 37-20 at the break.
In the second half, SNU went on one of its patented runs, led by Speight, and in the blink of an eye the Crimson Storm suddenly led by as many as 34.
UAM got a couple of early buckets to fall to cut it to 14, but the defense kicked in and Speight found his mark, getting lay up and a 3-pointer to fall to get the lead out to 21. Speight would find Newton again for another tenacious alley-oop finish and the rout was on.
At one point in the second half, the Crimson Storm were shooting close to 78% from the field as a lay in by
Coleman Edwards got the SNU lead to 65-31 with 9:55 to play in the game. The Crimson Storm got plenty of players minutes in the final and slowed things down, but prevailed with ease, sending the raucous crowd home happy with the 24 point win.
Speight finished with 16 points, including 14 in the second half, on 7 of 9 shooting to go with seven boards, six assists, and two steals. Dunn followed with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting while Starkey was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field as he scored 14. Charles scored 10 off the bench while Newton had six points and six boards. Johnson had a pair of steals while RJ Palmer had four points and four boards.
Jordan Embry and Kwame McBean each scored 10 points to lead the Boll Weevils.
Southern Nazarene improves to 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the GAC. With Southern Arkansas falling at Oklahoma Baptist earlier this week, the Crimson Storm move back into first place in the GAC along with the Muleriders and Bison.
Of course that will be shaken up on Saturday as SNU returns to the Sawyer Center to welcome in the 22nd-ranked Muleriders of Southern Arkansas in a Top 25 showdown for the first time ever in the GAC. Tip off is set for 3 p.m.
