Men's Hoops Drops Exhibition at DI USM

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southeastern put a pair of players in double figures, but was unable to find its shooting stroke in a 66-52 exhibition loss to Division I Southern Miss on Tuesday night in Hattiesburg, Miss.
 
The Savage Storm remain 4-5 heading into the final game of the 2015 calendar year against nationally ranked Tarleton State on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m. in Stephenville, Texas.
 
Sami Bzai led the way with 12 points on the strength of four threes, while Anton Cook shot 50.0 percent from the field and finished with 11.
 
Stelios Papafloratos chipped in eight on 3-of-6 shooting, while Tyler Lonzie finished with six.
 
Cook also dished out a team-best three assists as the Storm finished with nine as a team.
 
SE shot 39.6 percent from the field on the night, recovering in the second half with a 44.4 percent effort, however the issues extended into long distance shooting where they were 30.4 percent and at the free throw line where they finished at 53.8 percent.
 
Nathan Jackson hauled in a team-best seven rebounds with Lonzie right behind at six, while the Storm were outrebounded 35-to-26.
 
A Lonzie jumper put SE on the board first, but USM answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead in the early going.
 
Southeastern stayed on the home team's heels for much of the first half, several times closing to within one possession, the last time coming at the 8:36 mark when a Cook jumper closed the score to 18-15.
 
USM would finish the half on an 18-6 run however to leave the Storm trailing 36-21 at halftime.
 
SE would close the gap back to single digits on a Lonzie jumper with 11:31 to play which made the score 44-35, but that was as close as they would get despite outscoring the Golden Eagles 31-30 in the second half.