BETHANY, Okla. — No. 20 Southern Nazarene closed out its GAC/NSIC Challenge slate on Saturday evening inside the Sawyer Center, grinding out a 72–66 victory over Northern State to move to 2–0 on the young season.

The Crimson Storm (2-0, 0-0 GAC) weathered a slow perimeter shooting night but once again leaned on rebounding dominance and a standout performance from veteran guard Baron Bracey to finish the weekend unbeaten.

Bracey set the tone early and often, powering his way to a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds while shooting an efficient 8-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-10 at the stripe. The Crimson Storm defense went to work while timely buckets helped SNU build a 29–25 advantage at the break, despite Northern State (0-2, 0-0 NSIC) knocking down a few triples to stay close.

Coming out of halftime, the two squads battled back and forth. Bam Johnson and Malik Edwards combined for key buckets as SNU began to stretch its lead, while Tracy Godfrey Jr. and James Burries work on the glass helped Southern Nazarene control the paint. 

Burries and Brady Cook provided additional sparks off the bench, each knocking down threes that steadied SNU during Northern State's second-half pushes. Colby Henderson battled inside throughout, grabbing nine boards and chipping in four points while helping anchor SNU's defense.

Northern State got balanced scoring from five players in double digits and used a late surge to trim the deficit, but Southern Nazarene answered each run with timely stops and strong free-throw shooting late. A few late Northern State fouls was all it took for SNU to  close the door in the final minutes to preserve the win.

Next Up

The Crimson Storm will host Missouri Western on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm inside the Sawyer Center.