Smaller Buzzer Beater Lifts SE to OT Win

DURANT, Okla. – Taylor Smaller drained a fall-away three pointer with 0.4 seconds to play in overtime to lift Southeastern to a 70-67 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win is the third-straight for the team and the fifth in its last six outings and lifts the Savage Storm to 6-6 on the season and 2-2 in Great American Conference play heading into heading into a three-week hiatus for Christmas vacation before returning to the court on Jan. 3 2015 for a 3 p.m. matchup against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Sami Bzai tied the game by hitting one of a pair of free throws with 2:00 to play in the OT session, but the teams would follow by trading fruitless possessions until the Storm got the ball back with the shot clock off.
 
Smaller made his move with seven seconds to play and drifted to his right towards the home bench before letting his arching three fly, hitting the mark with 0.4 seconds to play.
 
NWOSU would turn the ball over on their in-bound attempt and the Storm would snag the 70-67 win.
 
It was the Rangers who got the buzzer beater at the end of regulation as Adrian Motley hit a jumper with three seconds to play to send the game to an extra session.
 
Smaller finished as the game's high scorer with 19 points on the day on 7-of-15 shooting with a 5-of-10 effort from behind the three-point line.
 
Danny Powell was right behind him with 18 points thanks to a pair of three and an 8-of-12 mark at the free throw line.
 
Darius Harris followed up with 10, while Bzai added eight with a pair of threes.
 
The Storm shot 41.78 percent for the game and hit nine threes, five of them from Smaller.
 
Harris also dished out four assists and Smaller chipped in three.
 
Powell and Harris each rounded out double-doubles, with Powell hauling in a game-high 15 rebounds and Harris adding 11.
 
The Storm defense also combined for seven blocks, including two each from Powell and Antonio Worthy.
 
Smaller and Powell each tallied eight first half points as SE would push its lead out to as many as seven early in the first half, going up 20-13 with 9:36 to go.
 
NWOSU would respond with a 14-2 run and Southeastern found itself in a 27-22 hole with 5:11 to play in the half.
 
Bzai would hit a three with 1:24 remaining to close the gap to one, but a Ranger bucket inside the final minute would leave the Storm trailing 34-30 at halftime.
 
NWOSU would stretch its lead to 10 points early in the second half and hold the lead for nearly the entire second half before SE finally broke through with an Anton Cook jumper at the 2:05 mark to take a 62-61 lead.
 
Bzai would add a free throw with 19 seconds to play in regulation, but Motley's jumper with three ticks remaining would send the game to OT.
 
SE held a 7-4 edge in the extra session, falling behind after the tip, but bouncing back from a three-point deficit thanks to a Kyle Roberts steal and bucket in transition followed by Bzai's game-tying free throw with 2:00 to play to set up Smaller's late-game heroics.