BETHANY – After a gut-wrenching loss on Thursday night in Shawnee over Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Nazarene responded in a big way on Saturday afternoon as they thumped Southwestern Oklahoma State 72-57 inside the Sawyer Center.
The final score really didn't tell how dominant the Crimson Storm (19-7, 13-5 GAC) were in this game, as they led by 33 at one point in the contest. With the victory, SNU clinched a spot in the Great American Conference Championships in Bartlesville for the sixth straight season.
After really struggling at the foul line on Thursday night, SNU went 10-for-13 from the free-throw line on their home floor and they lit it up from behind the 3-point line. They buried 10 triples in just the first half alone as they finished the game 14-for-32 (43.8%) from downtown. The Storm's defense was the vocal point again, holding the Bulldogs (12-12, 8-10 GAC) to 36.8 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range. SNU also forced 15 turnovers out of SWOSU.
After failing to knock down a three on Thursday night,
Jhonathan Dunn was not having another game like that on his home floor. The senior came out and buried four triples in the opening 10 minutes of the frame. He finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 6-for-10 shooting from downtown. Dunn also added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Manny Dixon had a sharp afternoon as he tallied 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor to go along with a career-high nine rebounds.
Tyler Williams' hot shooting continued as he finished with 13 points while drilling 3-of-8 tries from behind the arc while also chipping in three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Micah Speight played the maestro once again as he compiled eight points, four assists, four steals, and three rebounds.
Maik Bouwer added seven points and eight rebounds while
Nick Davis provided four points and three rebounds.
Karlyn Kenner came back after missing the last few weeks with injury as he added three points in his first game back.
Dunn wasted absolutely no time in making his presence felt on Saturday as he knocked down a couple of triples on the Storm's first two possessions, giving SNU the early 6-0 lead. After Speight buried one, and Dunn hit two more triples, SNU found themselves leading 21-3 just seven minutes into the contest. Head coach
Adam Bohac and company didn't take their feet off the gas for the rest of the frame, as they closed the final 13 minutes on a 23-15 run to take a commanding 44-18 lead into halftime.
The second half was Southern Nazarene's time to try some new sets and tinker with some different lineups as they scored just 28 points in the final 20 minutes. The Crimson Storm shot just 34.6 percent as Southwestern OSU was facing a huge deficit to come back from. SWOSU chipped the lead down to 69-49 with 2:45 left and later to 71-55 with 53 seconds left, but the game was all but decided as SNU clinched its sixth straight berth to Bartlesville.
Southern Nazarene will gear up for its final road stretch of the season next week as they travel to Searcy, Arkansas on Thursday to battle Harding, before departing to Russellville on Saturday afternoon to face Arkansas Tech. Tipoff with the Bisons on Thursday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
