BETHANY, Okla. - Southern Nazarene displayed another exciting victory inside the Sawyer Center Saturday afternoon, snubbing Southern Arkansas by six points by a final score of 78-72 for their second win in a row. 

A total of four Storm (13-12, 10-10 GAC) finished in double figures, with Cam Slaymaker and Benno Zecic highlighting the day with 20 points each. Those two combined for seven total threes against the Muleriders (10-16,8-12 GAC), contributing to 54 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Storm defense also showed up and showed out, forcing 16 turnovers on the Muelriders, which allowed them to chip in 25 points off of those turnovers. 

Southern Nazarene was immediately unstoppable in the opening six minutes of play, going on a whopping 19-0 run before Southern Arkansas would see a single point. All 19 points were contributed by the work of Jonas Visser, Slaymaker, and Zecic who found buckets on all areas of the floor. The Storm kept that diostnace for a majority of the first half, but the Muleriders were able get things going on their end of the floor to slowly chip away at SNU's lead.

Southern Arkansas managed to get it down to 15 with two and half minutes remaining in the first half, but Ben Baker McCann stretched SNU's lead back up to 17 with a layup. That 17-point lead soon turned into just 10 after the Muleriders went on a small 7-0 run in the final minute of the half, able to trail 39-29 behind the Storm heading into the break. 

Two minutes into the second half, Zecic had the hot hand as he buried back-to-back threes to lift the Storm ahead again by 17 points. The Storm's lead stayed for the next seven minutes with Tyrell Coleman and Shawn Barthelemy adding to the action on the offensive end. Southern Arkansas caught a burst and whipped out 6-0 run to cut the Storm's gap down to 11 with just under 11 minutes left in the game. 

A Jonas Visser layup bumped SNU back up to a 12-point lead, a Mulerider three put them within nine points and SNU started to sense the pressure. The teams traded a few free throws with the Muleriders sinking four quick points to bring them game within six points at 63-69 with five minutes remaining in the ballgame. 

Zecic swished another long ball to give SNU some cushion, but Southern Arkansas was not finished, hitting back-to-back jumpers to cut SNU's lead down to five. Baker-McCann drew a few fouls that awarded him trips to the free throw line, helping SNU back up to a six-point lead. Southern Arkansas was able to cut that down to as low as three points with just 44 seconds left on the game clock. The Storm decided it was time to put the Muleriders away for good and Coleman and Slaymaker teammed up at the charity stripe, sinking in three to push the Storm up to a six-point advantage with only 12 seconds left for Southern Arkansas to work with. Their last three point attempt was no good and SNU scraped up the final 78-72 victory for their second in a row and their 13th overall this season. 

Visser and Coleman were the other two members in double-digit scoring with 14 and 10, respectively. Baker-McCann chipped in nine points with a team-high six boards. 

Up Next

Southern Nazarene will be back on the road to Alva, Oklahoma as they are set to take on Northwestern Oklahaom State Thursday, February 29th at 7:30 p.m. This will be SNU's final regular season road game.