ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Coming off a tough loss to Ouachita Baptist on Thursday night, Southern Nazarene was looking to bounce back Saturday afternoon against Henderson State.
Instead, the Crimson Storm ran into a buzzsaw as the Reddies knocked down a school-record 16 3-pointers en route to a 74-55 win over SNU at Duke Wells Center. In addition to the sizzling performance from behind the arc, Henderson State (9-3, 4-2) held SNU (9-5, 3-3) to 30.4 percent shooting for the game, including a 6-of-26 showing from 3-point range. The win snapped a six-game winning streak for the Crimson Storm over the Reddies.
The Reddies came into the game No. 1 in the conference with 19.1 turnovers forced per game, but SNU had just three turnovers in the first half. However, the Crimson Storm had just 22 points at the break, the perfect illustration of Henderson State's stingy defense. SNU seniors Micah Speight and Jhonathan Dunn were especially neutralized by HSU. The duo combined to shoot just 9-of-33 from the field, 3-of-16 from deep.
Dunn led the way for SNU with 21 points, but needed 18 shots to do it, a byproduct of a swarming and aggressive Henderson State defensive scheme. Speight was the only other player in double figures for SNU with 10 points. It was a tough weekend for Speight as he shot 4-of-27 from the field against Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State. Ashton Charles continued his strong shooting for SNU, knocking down 3-of-4 3-point attempts for nine points.
It was a balanced effort for the Reddies, led by junior Chris Parker's 14 points. Parker knocked down four 3-pointers, one of five players to knock down at least two 3's. Anthony Lupardus went 3-for-4, Chris Owens went 3-for-5, Tanner Hamilton went 2-for-3 and Xavier Davenport went 2-for-2. The Reddies shot 48.3 percent from the field for the game. The Crimson Storm never led on Saturday and was tied with Henderson State for just 44 seconds of game time with the score even at 2-2. The Reddies took their first double digit lead with 13:25 left in the first half on a 3-pointer from Parker that pushed the lead 12-2.
Owens knocked down all three of his 3-pointers in a 2-minute, 27-second stretch of the first half. The barrage turned a 12-6 HSU lead into a 21-9 lead and pushed SNU coach Adam Bohac to call for time with 9:09 to go. Henderson continued to pour it on, pushing the lead to 17 with 1:58 remaining. SNU scored the last four points of the half to go into the locker room down 35-22. The Reddies went 9-of-14 from deep in the first half.
SNU managed to keep the deficit at 13 for the first five minutes of the second half, but the Reddies steadily pulled away as the 3-pointers kept raining down on the Storm. The Reddies led by as many as 25 in the second half.
The Crimson Storm kick off a four-game home stand on Thursday when they play host to Arkansas Tech. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Sawyer Center.
