Box Score

BETHANY, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team held a four-point lead heading into halftime, but a strong second half surge by Southern Nazarene propelled the Crimson Storm past the Muleriders by a score of 84-70 on Saturday afternoon at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.
 
The strong comeback effort by the Crimson Storm (7-6, 5-2 GAC) started in the closing minutes of the first half after the Muleriders (5-6, 2-4 GAC) opened up their largest lead of seven points, 39-32, with 2:26 left until halftime. Neither team would score over the next two minutes, but the Crimson Storm broke that drought with a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to cut their deficit down to four points, 39-35. That would be the score heading into halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, the Crimson Storm would score the first eight points of the second half to take a four-point lead themselves, 43-39. The Muleriders would break that run on their next possession as Recce Dunlap found Alre'k Brown for a dunk to bring SAU to within two points, 43-41.
 
The two teams would then trade three-pointers to keep the margin the same. From there, however, the Crimson Storm would pull away as the opened up a double-digit lead midway through the second half. The Muleriders were able to get to within single digits of the lead with 4:16 left, but the Crimson Storm quickly went back up by double figures on a three-pointer by the GAC's second leading scorer Quan Conner. From there, SNU would hold a double-digit lead until the final buzzer.
 
Four Muleriders ended in double figures with Nemo Sanchez leading the way with 15 points off the bench. All of Sanchez's points were accounted for beyond the arc as he was 5-of-9 from three-point territory. Behind Sanchez in scoring was Jeffrey Walker as he scored 13 points. Brown and Chauncy Williams were next with 11 points each.
 
As a team, the Muleriders shot 46% (25-of-57) overall from the floor while the Crimson Storm shot 51% (24-of-47). A glaring statistical edge that favored the SNU came from the beyond the arc as the Crimson Storm knocked down 13-of-27 (48%) three-pointers compared to the Muleriders' 7-of-20 (35%).
 
The Muleriders will now prepare for another road test, this time at Harding University on Thursday, January 16. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.