BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - The top-seeded Southern Nazarene men's basketball team got a pair of 20-point performances from
Micah Speight and
Jhonathan Dunn to go with a stellar defensive performance as they routed the 5th-seeded Henderson State Reddies to the tune of 84-64.
The win sends the Crimson Storm back to the GAC Championship Game as they will defend their title against the winner of No. 2 Southeastern Oklahoma State and No. 3 Oklahoma Baptist.
SNU shot a red-hot 32 of 58 (55%) from the field including a blistering 18 of 29 (62%) in the second half alone. The Crimson Storm were 9 of 17 (53%) from behind the arc, but struggled again at the free throw line, going 11 of 20 (55%). The Reddies were 22 of 55 (40%) from the field, 4 of 14 (29%) from deep, and 16 of 22 (73%) from the free throw line. SNU did a tremendous job on the defensive end, forcing nine steals on 13 turnovers. SNU had 14 assists and outrebounded the Reddies 37-29.
Henderson held a slight 9-8 lead in the first six minutes of the contest, but SNU caught fire fast as a barrage of jump shots led to an 18-2 run. SNU used the deep ball during the run as they got 3-pointers from
Micah Speight,
Ashton Charles,
Jhonathan Dunn and
Coleman Edwards to open up a 26-11 lead.
Henderson State used a quick 9-0 run to get it back down to a six-point game, but Southern Nazarene got back-to-back jumpers from Speight and
Zach Johnson to push the lead back to double digits. SNU maintained their lead in the final five minutes to take a 39-28 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Reddies got off to the quick start as they cut the game down to six in the first two minutes, but Southern Nazarene settled in and began to take control, especially on the defensive end. Johnson and
Quaylon Newton came up with big steals and blocks and pushed that into transition buckets as SNU got an 8-0 run to push their lead to 49-35 at the second media timeout.
That run ballooned to 13-0 as back-to-back layups from Johnson made it a 54-35 game.
Throughout the second half, Henderson State tried to find a spurt to cut into the deficit, getting as close to 12 on multiple occasions, but 17 points from Speight in the second half, along with big time stops on the defensive ends kept Southern Nazarene on top and sent them through to the championship game with the emphatic 20-point victory.
Speight finished with 26 points including 6 of 9 from the 3-point line. Speight added eight boards, four assists, and two steals to his impressive stat line. Dunn recovered nicely with a 21-point outing while Johnson had 10 points to go with three steals. Starkey pulled in another double-double, going for 10 points, 12 boards, and two blocks while Newton had eight points and three steals.
Southern Nazarene moves to 27-5 overall, matching their win total from their historic season just a year ago. They are the first team since Arkansas Tech in 2012 and 2013 to appear in two straight GAC Championship Games, and can become the first team in GAC history to repeat as tournament champions with a win.
Tip-off of the 2019 GAC Championship Game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. inside the Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville.
