Storm Gets 30 Point Win in Home Opener

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern had a pair of 20-point scorers and put four players in double-figures as they used a strong second half to pull away from Arlington Baptist for an 89-59 victory in the home opener on Monday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win is the first of the season for the Savage Storm who improve to 1-2 on the year heading into the Great American Conference opener on Nov. 20 against Henderson State at 7:30 p.m. in Arkadelphia, Ark.

SE was paced by Danny Powell who turned in a huge double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead all players in both categories.
 
Not far behind in the points column was Sami Bzai who drained 5-of-7 threes in the game to finish with 20 points.
 
Darius Harris chipped in 14 in the effort, while Antonio Worthy added 10.
 
Southeastern shot 47.9 percent for the game, but picked up the pace in the second half where it shot 54.3 percent from the field.
 
Taylor Smaller nearly posted a double-double with a game high nine assists while also scoring nine points.
 
In all, SE combined for 26 assists as a team, with Bzai and Harris each adding five and Nathan Jackson dishing out four.
 
The defense got in the mix as well with the Storm holding the Patriots to 30.8 percent shooting on the night, including a 21.9 percent effort in the second half.
 
SE also held a 48-to-40 edge in rebounding, while Antonio Worthy threw a block party with six rejections, while SE finished with nine as a team.
 
The teams were back and forth from the outset in the first half, with Arlington Baptist leading early before a pair of Smaller free throws would give the Storm its first lead at 5-3 early.
 
The teams would continue to see saw, with ABC eventually making its biggest run of the night, reeling off a 9-3 run to turn a 21-21 tie into a 3-24 lead with 7:37 to play.
 
The teams would later trade three tie scores in the final three minutes before Bzai would hit back-to-back threes in the final 35 seconds to put SE in front 45-39 at halftime.
 
The Storm maintained that momentum out of the locker room as they would open the half with a 10-0 run capped by a Smaller layup with 15:42 to play to open up a 55-39 lead.
 
That lead ballooned to 20 points on a Jackson layup with 12:57 to play, and would extend as far as 32 points when a Trevor Jackson layup gave SE an 88-56 lead with 1:46 to play.
 
Southeastern would settle on an 89-59 final score in the win.