SE Falls Short Against Tigers

Box Score ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Darius Harris hit the front end of a one-and-one opportunity to tie the game at 60-60, but Ouachita Baptist would hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left and a buzzer beater try by Southeastern would miss its mark and send the Savage Storm to a 62-60 loss on the road in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
The loss drops SE to 5-11 overall and 3-8 in Great American Conference play, while slipping to 1-6 on the road this season.
 
Despite trailing by double-figures midway through the second half, SE put itself in position to win.
 
The Storm plugged away with a 21-7 run that erased a 13 point deficit with 10:24 to play and turned it into a 59-58 lead after a Urald King bucket with 1:15 to play.
 
The Tigers would respond with a Carven Holcombe bucket with 37 seconds to play, but Harris would pick up an offensive rebound on the next possession and draw a foul with 14 second left.
 
He would hit the first, but miss the second free throw, and OBU would make a trip to the free throw line with three seconds remaining where Micah Delph hit both shots to take a 62-60 lead.
 
That would hold to be the final as a buzzer-beater try from John Baliwigaire would be off the mark.
 
King's 22 points matched the game-high for either team and marked the fifth 20-point game for King on the season and second-straight.  He tallied his points on an 11-of-17 effort from the floor.
 
Balwigaire turned in 17 points in the contest, hitting three three-point buckets.
 
Taylor Smaller finished just short of double figures with nine points.
 
King also turned in his sixth double-double of the season and third in-a-row by adding a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Balwigaire would lead the team with five assists as the Storm would dish out 13 dimes and commit just six turnovers.
 
The teams together combined for 28 assists and just 11 turnovers in the game.
 
Smaller opened the game with a three for the Storm, and by the midway point of the first half had extended itself out to a 19-12 lead after a Harris layup with 9:45 to play in the first.
 
OBU would close the gap to one point shortly thereafter, but seven straight points capped by a Balwigaire free throw would push the advantage to its largest point of the night at 26-18 with 6:10 to play in the half.
 
The Tigers would close to within three, but another Balwigaire bucket with 1:03 to play would prove to be the final points scored in the half and give SE a 32-27 advantage at the half.