BETHANY, Okla.—The Southern Nazarene Men's Rugby team dropped their first match of the season 22-14 in a hard-fought contest with Central Missouri last Saturday afternoon at the SNU Rugby Pitch.

It was a gritty matchup from the opening kickoff as both defenses proved difficult to penetrate. The Storm were able to finally break through in the first half and put a pair of tries on the board, but Central Missouri's defense stiffened even tighter in the second half to keep SNU off the scoreboard.

Trailing 14-3 at the break, Central Missouri came out of halftime and played a tremendous second half. They kept their lines strong and did not allow Southern Nazarene a chance to break through. Two quick tries finally gave the Mules a slim 15-14 advantage. Late in the second half, Central Missouri added another try and conversion that really put the Storm behind the eight ball as UCM held a two-possession lead at 22-14.

Despite being limited on the scoreboard, the Crimson Storm were extremely successful in attacking situations. They were a perfect 5-for-5 on attacking scrums and a perfect 3-for-3 on attacking lineouts.

Southern Nazarene's two tries came from Roger Griffin and Creed Hicken. Josh Robertson was successful on both of his conversion attempts.

With the loss, SNU now sits at 3-1 and will look to get back to their winning ways next time out. The team will take a week off before hosting Oklahoma State on October 15. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at the SNU Rugby Pitch.