LAREDO, Texas – Last season, Southern Nazarene hit 12 three-pointers as a team just once. So far this season, they've hit 14 triples three times already and they've only played five games.
 
It was another three-point barrage for the Crimson Storm (3-2) on Friday night as their shooting from behind the arc propelled them to a 77-52 victory over St. Mary's at the Courtyard Marriott Classic. The Rattlers (1-2) failed to get much going as the SNU defense was stifling, holding them to 37.7 percent shooting and 18.8 percent from downtown.
 
Jhonathan Dunn put on a scoring clinic for everyone in attendance as he finished with a season-high 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting and 6-for-11 from behind the arc. 25 of his points came in the second half as he also added seven rebounds and four assists en route to his best all-around performance of this young season.
 
Ashton Charles had a nice bounce-back game as he finished with 13 points and went 3-for-8 from downtown and added four rebounds. Point guard Micah Speight finished with 11 points and also knocked down three triples as he also chipped in four rebounds and three assists.
 
Manny Dixon added nine points and five rebounds in the contest while Morris Wilson II contributed six points and six rebounds. Maik Bouwer pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Brady Mulkey knocked down his first three-pointer of the season.
 
The Storm shot 44.8 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range and out-rebounded the Rattlers 37-33 in the contest. They forced 13 St. Mary's turnovers and didn't allow them to reach 30 points in either half. The Rattlers scored more points in the paint than SNU with 30, but SNU had 11 second chance points on 11 offensive rebounds.
 
Southern Nazarene led for 38 of the 40 minutes even though they shot just 37.8 percent in the first half. They took a 20-10 lead midway through the opening half before later pushing it to 14. St. Mary's struggled in the first half as well and the Storm took a 35-23 lead into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, the roof was blown off the building as the Crimson Storm buried nine three-pointers and shot 53.3 percent from the floor. After St. Mary's opened the half on a 13-4 run, Dunn took the game over. He scored four straight buckets for SNU and after a Charles three, the lead ballooned back to 16. Dunn's triple with 7:33 to play pushed the Storm lead to 21 at 61-40 and it was all over from there.
 
Speight knocked down a three to give SNU its largest lead of the game as the Crimson Storm cruised to their second straight win.
 
Southern Nazarene will be back in action tomorrow at the Courtyard Marriott Classic at 5:00 p.m. as they take on host Texas A&M International.