Young Guns: SNU pulls off gritty win over Southern Arkansas to keep streak rolling
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February 24, 2017
BETHANY, Okla. — One freshman hit the go-ahead basket late in a large comeback and the other did what he's done all year with a clutch bucket late for Southern Nazarene in a 68-64 win over Southern Arkansas.
Micah Speight helped bring SNU back from an 11-point deficit and gave SNU its first lead of the game with just over three minutes left and Jhonathan Duun sealed it with a big bucket with 14 seconds left. Speight finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. He also added three rebounds and two assists off of the bench. Dunn had a team-high 13 on a night in which he struggled from the field at 6-for-13 and just 1-for-6 from downtown.
Deshon Portley added 12 points while Noah Starkey nearly had another double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. LB Willis also had nine points.
It was the fifth straight win for the Crimson Storm (17-10, 14-7 GAC) which is the longest streak since the start of the 2014-15 season. SNU had hopes of possibly moving to the No. 3 seed in the Great American Conference Championships, but an East Central win at home over Arkansas Tech sealed the fourth spot for the Storm.
SNU struggled from outside in the first half, going just 2-for-12. The Storm bounced back in the second half with seven treys on 16 attempts. SNU shot 45.6 percent from the field. The struggles came at the line and turnovers as the Crimson Storm were just 7-for-16 and had 20 turnovers. SNU gave up just 17 points off turnovers, but scored 19 off 18 SAU turnovers.
Southern Nazarene struggled from the opening tip as it trailed 8-1 early. SNU answered with an 11-4 run capped by a Portley trey to tie it at 12-12. The Muleriders though went on a 19-8 run over the next eight minutes to take a 31-20 lead 2:48 left in the first. SAU led 33-22 before the storm cut it to 35-27 at the half.
SNU cut it to two twice in the second half and got within one at 60-59 on an Anton Kankaanpaa trey with 3:44 to play. That's when Micah Speight gave SNU its first lead of the game with a 3-pointer from straight on. SNU led 64-60, but Southern Arkansas tied it at 64 with 1:51 left. The Storm got a great second effort on a Willis put back and Dunn put the finishing touches with a short jumper in the lane with 14 seconds left to put SNU up 68-64 with 14 seconds left.
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