SNU Sports
David Noblett, Director of Athletics Communications
BARTLESVILLE — Down 49-41 with 7:52 to play, No. 10 Southern Nazarene felt the most tension it had all year. SNU responded with a 21-8 run to close the game and secure the schools first Great American Conference Championship title in school history with a 62-57 win over Arkansas-Monticello Saturday.
The Crimson Storm (27-2) trailed nearly all of the first half and nearly all of the second half until Coleman Edwards hit a trey that sparked the final run in the last eight minutes.
The win was the 200th in the 10-year career of Head Coach Adam Bohac. He becomes the fastest coach to 200 wins in school history, eclipsing the previous record of 200 wins in 333 games by current Director of Athletics Bobby Martin. Bohac got his is 307 games. The 27 wins on the season breaks the GAC record for most wins in a season with the 2011-12 Arkansas Tech.
SNU trailed by as much as eight in the first half, and were down 28-20 with 50 seconds left in the first, when Micah Speight buried a pair of treys to close out the half. The second 3-pointer came at the buzzer to end the half and cut the deficit to 28-26 at halftime.
Speight finished the day with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. He was a perfect 5-for-5 at the line. Jhonathan Dunn matched Speight on the team-high with 15 as well. Dunn also added four rebounds and three steals. Quaylon Newton added eight points and four rebounds.
Speight, Dunn and Starkey all were named to the All-Tournament Team and Dunn was named GAC Championship MVP. Over three games, Dunn averaged 21.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. He also shot 54.2 percent from the field. Starkey averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per contest. Speight averaged 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
After being held to just 32.1 percent from the field in the first half, the Storm fired 56.5 percent in the second half and finished 22-for-51 from the field. They went 8-for-19 from 3-point range and 10-for-13 at the line.