Storm Tops UAM in GAC Opener, 73-65

DURANT, Okla. – Sami Bzai turned in his second-straight game with 20-plus points and Southeastern opened its Great American Conference slate with a 73-65 win over Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win moves the Savage Storm to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southern Arkansas who is coming off a 15-point win over East Central on Thursday.
 
Bzai finished with 21 points to lead four players in double-digits for SE, doing so on a 7-of-16 night from the floor that included a 6-of-13 mark form behind the arc.  He has started the season with 15 threes over his first three games and is shooting 53.6 percent so far from long range on the year.
 
Tyler Lonzie was next in line with 15 on a 6-of-7 shooting night, followed by 11 from Anton Cook and 10 from Nathan Jackson off the bench. Quinton Threadgill came off the bench to hit a pair of threes and added eight points.
 
The Storm shot 50.9 percent from the field on the game as a team and 34.8 percent from long range.
 
Southeastern also held a 39-to-25 advantage on the glass as Lonzie and Jose Libiano each hauled in eight to lead the way, with Jackson's six next in line.  The edge was due in large part to an 18-to-11 Storm lead on the offensive boards.
 
Cook, Jackson and Threadgill each dished out three assists to lead the team as SE tallied 16 on the night total.
 
The Storm led the way in second chance points by a 20-10 margin and points in the paint at 38-28.
 
The first half was even as the teams traded the lead back-and-forth with five points being the widest margin over the first 20 minutes.
 
A Bzai three with 5:13 to go in the first half gave the Storm a 30-28 lead and while UAM would tie the game twice, SE would take a 34-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
SE pulled out to a six point lead early in the second half on back-to-back buckets by L:onzie and a fastbreak layup by Bzai.
 
The Boll Weevils would answer with a 9-0 run to grab the lead on a three with 14:35 to play, and after Southeastern tied it they would add a jumper to lead 46-44 with 13:48 remaining.
 
A Threadgill three would erase the lead and kick off a 14-2 run that was capped by a Jackson layup that gave SE a 58-48 lead with 9:34 to go.
 
The lead would grow to 11 points three times over the remainder of the half, the last coming on a Threadgill free throw with 35 second to go.
 
UAM would score four of the game's final five points but never threatened SE's lead as the Storm picked up a 73-65 victory.