Men's Hoops Opens Season With a Win

Box Score DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern put three players in double figures and shot 59.5 percent from the field en route to a 64-56 win over Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Saturday night in the season opener at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The Savage Storm open the year with a win for the second-straight season and will next be in action on Nov. 13 when they travel to Rolla, Mo., to face Missouri S&T at 7 p.m.
 
In Saturday's game, SE was 22-of-37 from the field, with its three double-digit scorers combining to shoot 14-of-22.
 
Taylor Smaller paced that group as the game's high scorer with 17 point on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a 6-of-7 night at the free throw line.
 
Urald King was right on his heels in his regular season return to the court after missing the 2012-13 season, pouring in 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while turning in a double-double with 10 points and adding a game-high three blocks.
 
Anton Cook came off the bench to score 13 points, doing so on a 4-of-5 night that included a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
 
Trevor Jackson added eight points on f4-of-6 shooting, while Daichi Taniguchi chipped in five.
 
Smaller led the team with three assists on the night, while the Storm finished with 11 combined.
 
King was joined by Darius Harris in double-digit rebounds with 10 as well, as SE finished with a 36-to-28 advantage on the glass as a team.
 
Over half of USAO's 28 rebounds were on the offensive glass, but the Storm still held a 10-6 edge in second chance points, as well as a 30-24 lead in points in the paint and an 8-4 mark in fast break points.
 
King scored the season's first bucket and SE held the first lead, but after USAO tied the game at 3-3 they would take the lead and by the 13:50 mark of the half had stretched it 11-5.
 
The Storm would trail for the majority of the first half until King hit a transition layup off a Smaller pass with 3:39 to play in the half and SE led 32-31.
 
USAO would regain the lead, but a Cook jumper with 1:16 remaining would put SE back in front and they would eventually take a 37-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Drovers would take the lead early in the second and the teams would have three ties before the Storm got a fast break layup and just a bit later a three from Cook to push its edge out to 51-46 with 11:20 to play.
 
USAO would trim the advantage to two point with a three at the 9:47 mark, but Southeastern would push it back out to five at 56-51 with 8:20 to go.
 
That is where the score would stick as neither team could get a bucket to fall for 3:55 until a Cook layup gave SE a 58-51 lead, the largest of the night by either team.
 
USAO, however got five-straight points from Tyler Reynolds to cut the gap to 58-56 with 3:24 to play.
 
However, another drought by both teams would leave the score there for 3:01 before Smaller hit his only three point bucket of the night and the Storm led by five with 23 second to play and would pull away with free throws for the 64-56 win.