Savage Storm Downs UAM, 74-62

Box Score DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern had three players finish with 19 points or more and finished the night shooting 56.5 percent from the field as a team en route to a 74-62 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-12 overall on the season and 4-9 in Great American Conference play, currently tied with Ouachita Baptist for the eighth and final spot in the GAC tournament.
 
Taylor Smaller turned in 20 points to lead all scorers, doing so on the back of a 6-for-8 night shooting from behind the arch, hitting all six of the team's threes.  He added eight assists to fall just short of a double-double and chipped in three rebounds and a steal.
 
Darius Harris posted an 8-for-10 night shooting from the floor and finished with 19 points, while Urald King also finished with 19 on 8-of13 shooting.
 
King finished with a game-high seven rebounds, while Harris was right behind at six.
 
Smaller's eight assists led all players, while Randy Peters chipped in five, all in the first half.
 
Neither team turned the ball over more than 10 times, but SE did take advantage of the Boll Weevil miscues to the tune of a 16-7 edge in points off turnovers, while UAM held a 10-4 advantage in second chance points.  SE would also hold a small edge of 30-26 in the paint.
 
The teams traded punches out of the gate, but a 14-0 run capped by a King layup with 12:44 to play in the first half gave the Storm a 16-4 lead.
 
UAM would answer by chipping away at the SE lead, tying the game with 48 second to play.
 
The Storm would get a free throw from Quinton Threadgill with 15 seconds left, but Sharif Hudson would hit a jumper with two ticks on the clock to put SE in a 30-29 hole at the half.
 
SE scored the first four points of the second half to quickly erase that deficit, slowly pushing ahead until a Harris bucket in transition put the Storm up 45-38 with 12:26 to play.
 
The Weevils would cut the lead back down to four points with 9:16 to play, but a 6-0 run capped by three straight free throws by Daichi Taniguchi would extend the lead back to double figures at 54-44.
 
The teams would trade buckets, but the Storm would maintain its advantage at or near 10 point, with UAM cutting the lead to single digits with 1:33 to play.
 
SE would get a free throw form Anton Cook and a dunk from King to finish out the scoring and fashion the final score at 74-62.