LAREDO, Texas – No. 9 ranked Southern Nazarene dished out a season-high 22 assists in a 75-46 beatdown of Texas A&M International to close out the Courtyard Marriott Classic.
The Crimson Storm (4-2) had everything clicking right from the opening tip as they shot 50 percent from the floor and never trailed the Dustdevils (2-2) as the SNU defense forced 22 turnovers. The Storm didn't have their best night from behind the three-point line by shooting 30 percent, but still knocked down nine triples in the contest.
It was another scoring clinic for
Jhonathan Dunn as he poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting while also going 3-for-8 from downtown in 27 minutes. He also added five assists and three rebounds as well.
Manny Dixon had his first breakout game for head coach
Adam Bohac as the sophomore scored a season-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and going 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
Surprisingly Dunn and Dixon were the only two Storm players in double-figures as
Micah Speight tallied nine points and dished out a game-high six assists while also adding four rebounds.
Morris Wilson II also scored nine points and hauled in five rebounds while
Brady Mulkey chipped in five points and four rebounds.
Southern Nazarene never trailed in the contest as the leapt out to a 15-3 lead just three minutes into the game. They bumped that lead to 23-7 and later to 28-9 midway through the first half. The Storm pushed it to their largest lead of the half at 46-17 before taking a 51-22 lead into the halftime break.
The Crimson Storm didn't take their foot off the gas in the second half as they ballooned their lead to 61-25 three minutes in. From there, coach Bohac was able to get his starters a well-deserved rest as the reserves got some quality minutes to close the game.
Jackson Rothwell came in and scored his first bucket of the 2019-20 season while
Maik Bouwer also got on the board with a couple of points.
Southern Nazarene is back in action this Thursday inside the Sawyer Center as they open Great American Conference play at 7:30 p.m. against Northwestern Oklahoma State.
