MAGNOLIA, Ark. - It was an electric atmosphere at W.T. Watson Center as a huge crowd gathered to see the 10th-ranked Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm take on their home-standing Southern Arkansas Muleriders. SAU came into the final weekend of play with a perfect 12-0 record and they had an upset on their mind as the Crimson Storm came to town.

And then the game started.

Southern Nazarene used a big run in the first half to build a sizable lead and never let the Muleriders sniff any sort of rally as they dominated Southern Arkansas to the tune of 75-59. 

The Crimson Storm were 27 of 61 (44%) from the field and 10 of 23 (44%) from behind the arc. SNU was excellent at the line, going 11 of 12 (92%). On the other side, Southern Arkansas was 22 of 54 (41%) from the field, 5 of 17 (29%) from deep, and 10 of 15 (67%) at the line.

The story of the entire game was SNU's ability to facilitate while matching a season-low in turnovers and harassing the Muleriders defensively. SNU had 14 assists to six turnovers while SAU had nine assists to 15 turnovers. 

SAU started with a 3-0 lead, but that was the only lead they would have on this night as SNU scored the next six points on a massive slam from R.J. Palmer followed by a lay up from Noah Starkey and a jumper from Jhonathan Dunn. Starkey would score six points in the paint while Micah Speight got working in the lane to push the lead out to 12-5.

The game turned on its head as Coleman Edwards entered the contest and proceeded to drain three 3-pointers to help build a Crimson Storm lead out 15 points at the under 8 media timeout.

From there, SNU never looked back as they used tremendous defense along with efficient offense to maintain the double digit lead. Southern Arkansas put together a small run towards the end of the first half, but could not get within 10 as SNU maintained a 38-27 lead at the break.

SNU opened the second half with a 3-pointer from Speight followed by a tough lay in from Zach Johnson to get the lead right back to 16 at 43-27. Johnson would follow that with a 3-pointer and SNU saw their lead expand to 46-27.

With foul trouble limiting the minutes of Starkey and Quaylon Newton, SNU got huge minutes from its bench in the paint in the likes of Palmer, Ashton Charles, and Brady Mulkey. The trio did not skip a beat offensively or defensively and continued to own the paint over the Muleriders.

Speight also began to heat up in the second half as he knocked down jumpers all throughout. A Charles 3-pointer at the midway point of the second half gave SNU its biggest lead of the game at 60-36. A crowd that was once rowdy and ready to bring on a tough environment was in stunned silence as they made their way to the exits early.

Southern Arkansas could never find a run to make the game interesting as SNU continued to suffocate the SAU offense. The Muleriders got it under 20, but never got as close as 16, which was the margin of the final score, 75-59.

Speight led the way with 17 points, six boards, four assists, and a steal while Dunn, despite a tough shooting night, still finished with 12 points. Edwards scored 11 off the bench to go with two steals while Starkey and Palmer each had 10 points. Johnson added seven, Charles had five and six boards, including a thunderous put back dunk, and Newton had three.

Devante Brooks and CJ Elkins led the way for SAU with 10 points each. Jalen Brooks added seven points and 10 boards. 

Southern Nazarene goes to 25-4 overall and 18-3 in the GAC. They will close the regular season on Saturday as they take on Arkansas-Monticello beginning at 3 p.m.