BETHANY - Sometimes a true test of a champion is how you respond after you've fallen and what you do when you pick yourself up. After a stunning loss at home to Southeastern that saw their 25-game home streak snapped, No. 17 Southern Nazarene had to get ready for an Oklahoma Baptist team that was currently tied for third in the GAC. A team that took SNU to the brink last month which saw SNU escape with a one point win on Bison Hill.
Tonight in Sawyer? The heart of a champion was on display and a statement was made.
The Crimson Storm shot 53% from the field while holding one of the top offenses in the GAC to under 40% as they destroyed the Bison 102-62 on Thursday evening. For SNU, it was their first time breaking the century mark since 2013.
SNU made 11 3-pointers and shot 55% from behind the arc and was 27 of 34 from the line. The Crimson Storm outrebounded the Bison 40-27, had a 16-7 advantage in assists, and forced 11 turnovers while only giving it away eight times. The Crimson Storm also got 37 points off their bench.
Both teams felt each other out in the early goings as SNU built a 17-10 lead behind baskets from Noah Starkey and Jhonathan Dunn. The two teams went back-and-forth with SNU leading by five with about seven minutes to play in the half before free throws from Starkey and back-to-back jumpers from Coleman Edwards ballooned the lead to 36-25.
From there, SNU caught fire as they began to get stops on defense and transition that into offense. Leading 36-27, SNU closed the half on a 13-4 run which included a monster put back from Quaylon Newton, a breakaway dunk by Dunn, and some ankle-breaking dribble moves from Micah Speight. The Crimson Storm took all the momentum into the break, leading 49-31.
During the run, with 3:12 remaining in the first half, Speight finished a lay-up at the rim and became the 39th player all-time, and the third player this season alone, to score 1,000 career points. Dunn did it earlier this year against Oklahoma Christian while Starkey did it on the road last month against Harding.
In the second half, Oklahoma Baptist tried to put together stops and pair it with offense in hopes of sparking some sort of run, but SNU was not having any of it as the Crimson Storm were aggressive on offense and got to the line while Dunn continued to stay in rhythm on the floor, pushing the lead to 23 five minutes into the second half.
OBU got it down to 17 at one point, but that was as close as they would get as SNU completely buried the Bison, getting 3-pointers from Dunn and Edwards and offense from Speight and RJ Palmer to push the lead out to 30 at 81-51. As the benches began to clear and more players got into the game, the scoring did not slow down as Ashton Charles, along with Palmer, knocked down shots to put SNU on the brink on 100.
Morris Wilson Jr. got some time late in the game and took advantage, getting a beautiful fastbreak lay-up before sending the crowd into a frenzy as he struck from deep to put SNU over the century mark en rout to their 102-62 win.
Dunn finished with 26 points in the contest to go with three rebounds while Speight added 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Three different players scored 13 in Starkey, Palmer, and Edwards. Newton had six points, eight boards, and four blocks while Charles had six as well. Wilson scored five while Zach Johnson pitched in four points.
Julian Daughtry led OBU with 21 points while Antonio Wade added 20.
SNU moves to 21-4 overall and remains tops in the GAC at 14-3. They will look to keep their winning ways going as they welcome in Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m.
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