ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - In a wild contest, No. 15 Southern Nazarene held off a furious rally from the home standing Henderson State Reddies to pick up a 70-64 road on Thursday evening at the Duke Wells Center. The win, paired with a Oklahoma Baptist loss to Ouachita, moves SNU into sole possession of first place in the GAC.

The win did not come easy for SNU. Despite an incredible start, SNU shot 24 of 58 (41%) from the field including 7 of 22 (32%) from deep, and 15 of 26 (58%) from the free throw line. On the other end, HSU overcame an atrocious start from the field to finish 24 of 62 (39%) from the field, 9 of 17 (53%) form deep, and 7 of 10 (70%) from the line. 

SNU had a season-high 18 turnovers, which in turn hurt their transition defense. Despite the turnovers, SNU still forced Henderson into 15 turnovers while outrebounding the Reddies 40-33. SNU also had 15 assists on 24 made shots.

It was an incredible start for SNU as they jumped out a 25-2 lead thanks in part to a 21-0 run. Jhonathan Dunn scored five in the first two minutes while Noah Starkey asserted his dominance in the paint, scoring 10 points throughout the run. Coleman Edwards connected on a pair of 3s as it was all Crimson Storm early on.

But as SNU cooled off, Henderson State began to force SNU into turnovers and used that to spark their offense. SNU had a 35-15 lead with 4:01 to play in the half, but the Reddies closed it out by outscoring the Crimson Storm 13-4 to make it a 39-28 deficit at the break.

The two teams traded blows early in the second half, but a 3-pointer from Micah Speight gave SNU a 50-36 lead with 14:32 to play and it looked as though SNU was in control. However, Henderson State continued to chip away and continued to take advantage of SNU miscues as they crept closer.

A 3-pointer from Anthony Lupardus capped a 14-1 run and made it a 51-50 game with 8:27 to play. Speight responded with a 3-pointer of his own, but Rel Johnson answered his own three and it was back to a one point game. Quaylon Newton got a free throw to fall and Chris Stephens hit a massive 3-pointer to go back ahead by five.

After a pair of free throws from Henderson, it looked as though the Reddies got a stop, but Stephens came through and took a rebound out of the air and finished with a lay in to move SNU back ahead 60-55. 

Henderson got a 3-pointer to cut it back to two, but Starkey hit a pair of free throws to get the game back to 62-58. After a SNU stop, Zach Johnson spotted up in the corner and buried a huge 3-pointer with 2:40 to play to make it a three possession game at 65-58. On the other end, SNU got back-to-back massive blocks from Quaylon Newton and Dunn.

It turned into a free throw game the rest of the game as Starkey along with Speight combined to go 5-for-6 down the stretch to give the Crimson Storm the 70-64 road win to complete the season sweep over Henderson.

Starkey had a monster game, finishing with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks while Dunn added 10 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Speight had a tough night shooting, but had nine points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Newton added seven points, eight rebounds, two steals, and three blocks. 

Chris Parker led the Reddies with 17 points including five 3-pointers and four assists while Rel Johnson had 13 points. Mike Fofana had nine points and 10 rebounds.

SNU moves to 18-3 on the year and 11-2 in the GAC. They will trek right across the street as they prepare to take on Ouachita, fresh off their upset win over Oklahoma Baptist. Tip-off is set for 3 PM.