Two-time defending Great American Conference men’s basketball champion Southern Nazarene University was highly motivated following its first back-to-back league losses in three years.
Arkansas Tech University had the misfortune of being in the Crimson Storm’s path on Thursday night.
SNU made 12 of its first 16 field goal attempts and blitzed the Wonder Boys 79-47 at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.
It was a bounce back win for the Crimson Storm (10-5 overall, 4-3 GAC), which suffered defeats at Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University on Jan. 2 and 4.
That marked the first time since January 2017 that SNU had lost consecutive GAC games.
The Crimson Storm made it clear early that a third straight loss was not in the cards.
Southern Nazarene raced out to a 26-9 lead over the first 12 minutes. A 12-0 run by the Crimson Storm extended the lead to 44-16 at the 1:52 mark of the first half, and the outcome was never in question from that point forward.
“It was one of those almost perfect storm kind of games,” said Chad Kline, ATU head coach. “We were coming off two big wins and feeling pretty good about ourselves with some team and individual accolades. We knew we just needed to try to survive those first 10 minutes, and we couldn’t do it.”
Johnathan Dunn netted 28 points and Micah Speight poured in 25 points to lead the way for Southern Nazarene, which earned its sixth consecutive home win against the Wonder Boys.
Dillon Gooding had a team-high 17 points for Arkansas Tech.
The Wonder Boys (8-5, 4-3) will conclude a two-game road trip to the Sooner State by visiting Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off at the Noble Complex is planned for 3 p.m.
Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage.
