SE Pulls Away in Win Over OBU

Box Score DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern held Ouachita Baptist to 28.8 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers en route to a 65-48 win on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win moves the Savage Storm to 4-0 on the year overall and 2-0 in Great American Conference play, with its next action coming up on Nov. 26 when it travels to Dallas, Texas, to face Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m.
 
SE was paced on offense by Urald King with 14 points, while John Balwigaire turned in 13 to finish in double-digits in his second-straight game since returning to the lineup after a preseason injury.
 
Balwigaire was 3-of-4 from behind the arc to help the Storm to a 47.1 percent shooting effort from long range.
 
SE shot 40.4 percent from the field overall, with Taylor Smaller and Daichi Taniguchi each adding eight points in the effort.
 
King nearly finished off his third double-double of the year, but finished with nine rebounds, which was still good enough to lead all players on the glass.  Darius Harris turned in eight and SE held a 40-to-37 edge on the boards for the game.
 
Smaller triggered the offense by dishing out a season-best seven assists, while Quinton Threadgill added four assists in the win.
 
King and Smaller each picked up three steals as the Storm posted 10 as a team, while King added a pair of blocked shots.
 
The biggest difference in the contest were the turnovers, which SE turned into a 21-8 lead in points off turnovers and the shooting differential, with Southeastern hitting 40.4 percent from the field while holding OBU to a 28.8 percent effort.
 
King scored the game's first point from the free throw line and Harris would hit a layup at the 17:26 mark to make the score 3-0, which OBU would tie on a Sterling Bailey three pointer.
 
That was the last time the Storm would not lead in the contest as a King layup and Balwigaire three pout the Storm up 8-3.
 
The Tigers would trim the SE lead to one possession, once down to two points and twice to three points, but SE would use a late 8-0 run to push the lead into double-digits and eventually take a 31-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Neither team could buy a bucket to open the second half, but SE managed to get a layup and a pair of free throws while holding OBU scoreless for the first 6:35 of the half to push the lead out to 35-18.
 
The Storm lead would grow as large at 25 points at 55-30 on a pair of Balwigaire free throws, before the Tigers would whittle it down to the 65-48 final score.