MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Nazarene tried to right the ship with their shooting struggles in the win on Thursday night, but things got even worse in a 57-54 loss to Southern Arkansas inside the W.T. Watson Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Crimson Storm (14-6, 8-4 GAC) were held to just 35.1 percent from the floor as they shot a season-worst 4-for-24 (16%) from behind the 3-point line as SAU snapped their five-game winning streak. SNU was able to stay in the contest by way of their defense, as they held the Muleriders (9-9, 6-6 GAC) to 30 percent shooting in the second half as they tried to erase a 12-point deficit.
 
Across the board, the team stats were pretty even as SAU had one more rebound than SNU and turned it over 11 times compared to nine giveaways for the Crimson Storm. The long scoreless stretches for SNU turned out to be the difference maker as the Mulerider made it really difficult on the Storm offense to get into rhythm.
 
Senior Micah Speight led the way in scoring for Southern Nazarene with 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting. He also added five rebounds and two assists as well. For just the second time this season, Jhonathan Dunn was held to under 20 points as the senior tallied just 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Dunn failed to knock down a three-pointer for the first time this season as he finished 0-for-8 from downtown. Nick Davis came off the Storm bench to add four points and five rebounds, while Morris Wilson II and Brady Mulkey each added three points as well.
 
The first seven minutes of the game were very fast paced as both teams traded buckets as it was tied 16-16. After that, the Muleriders used a 7-0 run to push their lead to 23-16 as they held SNU scoreless for almost eight minutes. SAU rode that run and closed the final five minutes strong to take a 33-22 lead into the break.
 
SNU came out in the second half and really turned up their defensive effort. Although their shooting improved in the last 20 minutes, SAU was not making things easy. The Storm gradually kept cutting into the Mulerider lead as they tied it 45-45 with 6:37 to play. After Dunn's jumper gave SNU a 52-47 lead with 3:50 to play, it looked like SNU was going to squeak out another one. However, Southern Arkansas held the Storm to just two points in the final 3:50 as they snapped the five-game winning streak for SNU.
 
Southern Nazarene will look to bounce back at home next Thursday night as they play host to Henderson State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.