SE Rally Falls Short Versus Bulldogs

DURANT, Okla. – For the second-straight contest Southeastern's chances at victory came down to the final buzzer, but on Saturday afternoon the buzzer-beating shot attempt did not fall and the Savage Storm found itself on the losing end of a 61-60 final score against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops SE to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in Great American Conference play heading into its next matchup on Jan. 8 against Arkansas-Monticello at 7:30 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Southeastern trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, but used a 13-5 run just over midway through the half to trim the deficit to 51-48 with 6:42 to play.
 
The Storm would use a second run later that was powered by back-to-back Darius Harris threes as he scored eight-straight points to erase a six-point deficit and give SE a 58-56 lead with 1:07 to play.
 
SWOSU would answer with a Jordan Franz three with 48 seconds left to regain the lead by one, but the Storm answered when Harris added a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left to put SE in front 60-59.
 
The Bulldogs would miss a shot, but got an offensive rebound and Franz would draw a foul as he put up a three that missed badly, earning a trip to the line where he hit two shots to leave the Storm trailing 61-60 with seven seconds to go.
 
Southeastern would get a final look, but Danny Powell's three would miss its mark and the Storm would fall 61-60.
 
Harris led the team in points with 15, 10 of which came in the final three minutes of the game.
 
He was joined in double-figures by Taylor Smaller who had 14, while Trevor Jackson and Powell each added eight.
 
Powell pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while Harris hauled in six.
 
Smaller and Powell each dished out three assists as the Storm had 15 as a team.
 
Southeastern shot 46.0 percent from the field for the game thanks to a 52.2 percent effort in the second half, draining eight threes in the game.
 
The Storm started solid, taking an early lead and going up by as many as six points within the first four minutes before SWOSU clawed back and eventually used a 20-4 run to put the Storm down by double-digits, leading by as many as 11 before Cook hit a buzzer-beating jumper to end the first half and leave SE trailing 35-26 at the half.