Late ATU Run Spoils SE Upset Hopes

DURANT, Okla. – Despite putting four players in double-digits, Southeastern fell victim to a 9-0 run by Arkansas Tech over the final 3:13 which sent the Savage Storm to a 70-65 loss on Thursday night in its return to conference play in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops SE to 3-8 on the year and 1-4 in Great American Conference play heading into a Jan. 9, 1 p.m. matchup with Harding who is coming off a 61-50 loss at East Central on Thursday.
 
The Storm shot 43.1 percent from the field on the night, but were behind their long range shooting marks, only hitting 19.0 percent from long range.
 
Rachel Wallace led the scoring with a game-high 18 points on a 7-of-12 effort from the floor.
 
She was joined in double-figures by Taylor Richards, Olivia Potter and Emem David who each had 12.
 
Kaylie Baxter struggled to find her shot, but found other ways to make an impact as she dished out a game-high seven assists.  Richards added four and Sa'Liesha Hunter chipped in three.
 
David led the way on the glass with nine boards as the teams finished knotted at 36-to-36 in rebounding totals.  Wallace and Richards each added seven, while three others had three each.
 
The game was back and forth with SE holding the largest lead of the night at just six points midway through the first quarter.
 
In all the action would feature 12 ties and 11 leads changes.
 
Southeastern scored the first five points of the game and despite a tie at 14-14 would lead for the entire opening quarter and go to the first break up 22-20.
 
ATU would take its first lead in the second quarter and push out to as many as five ahead, but buckets by Richards and David over a slow moving final two minutes would cut the halftime deficit to 34-33.
 
SE regained the lead to open the second half on a Shelby Hill three and the teams would trade it back-and-0forth before the Golden Suns took a 51-50 edge into the final frame.
 
A Wallace bucket at the 8:33 mark would tie the game again and a Potter layup less than half a minute later would put SE back in front.  And when Potter drained a three with 7:18 to play to take a 60-55 lead, SE had its first two-possession lead since the first half.
 
ATU would answer and briefly regain the lead, but a Wallace layup followed by another Potter three with 3:13 to go would give the Storm a 65-61 lead.
 
Unfortunately that was when the SE offense ran out of gas as the Suns reeled off a 9-0 run to finish the game and steal a 70-65 final score.