SE Picks Up Key Road Win at ATU

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern put four players in double-figures and kept its postseason hopes alive with a 78-64 win over Arkansas Tech on Thursday night in Russellville, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 11-16 overall and 9-12 in Great American Conference play, and coupled with a Thursday night loss by Northwestern Oklahoma State moved SE into a tie for eighth with the Rangers.
 
To advance to the postseason Southeastern still needs to pick up a win in the season finale on Feb. 27 against Harding at 3 p.m. in Searcy, Ark., and hope for a NWOSU loss at Henderson State.
 
Tyler Lonzie came off the bench to match his season high with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, leading a foursome of double-digit scorers.
 
He was joined by Marti Fonolla who turned in 15 on 4-of-7 shooting, followed by 13 from Sami Bzai and 11 from Nathan Jackson. Anton Cook finished just shy of double-digits with nine.
 
Bzai also dished out a team-high four assists.
 
The Storm shot 49.0 percent for the game, including a 53.3 percent mark in the first half, while hitting 7-of-20 threes for the contest.
 
Fonolla pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Lonzie and Ander Perez added five each.
 
The Wonder Boys jumped out in front first and would push that advantage out to eight points before a pair of DJ Henderson triggered a 10-2 run to tie the game at 26-26 with 8:58 to go in the half.
 
The score would tie again at 28 and at 30 before a Bzai layup with 5:25 to go in the half finally gave the Storm its first lead at 32-31, it would also open up a 10-2 ruin which SE used to take a 40-33 lead at halftime.
 
Southeastern maintained at least a two possession lead until the 12:18 mark when ATU trimmed that advantage to 49-47.
 
Fonolla would answer with a three and after getting it back to three points less than a minute later, a Jackson free throw and a Cook jumper would push that lead back to 57-51 with 6:35 to play.
 
The Storm would outscore the Wonder Boys 18-11 over the final five and a half minutes, leading by as many as 17 points before settling on a 78-64 win.