Shooting Woes Costly in Storm Loss

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – A slow start and a rough shooting outing proved costly for Southeastern as they dropped a 67-49 decision on Saturday afternoon against Southern Arkansas in Magnolia, Ark.
 
The loss is the third in-a-row and drops the Savage Storm to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in Great American Conference play heading into a Nov. 21 matchup with Dallas Christian in the team's home opener at 7:30 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Tyler Lonzie bounced back on offense with a game-high 17 points, while Anton Cook added 14 with Nathan Jackson right behind with 13.
 
Jett Jobe added three and Jose Libanio turned in two points as the five starters accounted for all of the Storm points in the contest.
 
Jobe dished out four assists, but SE finished with six as a team.
 
Southeastern finished the day shooting 25.7 percent from the field and hit just two threes, but did shoot 73.3 percent from the line as a team going 11-for-15.
 
Jackson turned in a double-double by pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds, with Lonzie wrapping up his own double-double by hauling in 11 boards.
 
Jackson and Jobe each snagged three steals, while Libanio blocked a pair of shots on defense.
 
The Storm held an 18-12 edge in points off turnovers, and was even in other areas with the exception of bench scoring where they were outscored 27-0.
 
SAU opened with a 7-0 run, but a Jackson bucket stopped it and started a 12-0 SE run which was capped by a Cook layup to go up 12-7 at the 14:21 mark.
 
However, the Storm would go more than 10 minutes without scoring and trailed 22-12 when Jackson hit a pair of free throws to close it to an eight point deficit.
 
Eight points was as close as it would get as the Muleriders scored the final four points to put the Storm down 30-18 at halftime.
 
A Cook layup at the 16:19 mark of the second half would cut the deficit to 33-28, but SAU answered by pushing its lead back beyond double figures until a pair of Cook free throws with 5:15 to play cut it to single digits again at 58-49.
 
However, the Muleriders would close the contest on a 9-0 run and SE would fall 67-49.