Cook Tops 1,000 Career Points, SE Falls

DURANT, Okla. – With his first two buckets in the contest Anton Cook would surpass the 1,000-point mark in career scoring, but his night was slightly sullied as Southeastern came out on the short end of a 66-65 score against Southern Arkansas on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 8-10 overall and 4-8 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Arkansas-Monticello at 3 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Cook became the 12^th Southeastern men's player to reach the 1,000 point plateau after hitting back-to-back threes to open scoring for the Storm in the game. He finished the matchup with 19 points and has a career total of 1,015 points which is good for 11^th and 14 points behind 10^th place.
 
He got to the game-high while shooting 50 percent from the field and connecting on 4-of-7 threes.
 
Tyler Lonzie was next in line with 15 points and wrapped up a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
Kevin Buckingham added a pair of threes and finished with 10 points.
 
Jett Jobe helped trigger the offense with seven assists, while Buckingham handed out five.
 
The Storm held a 37-to-28 edge on the glass, led by Lonzie's 10 boards, while Jobe and Nathan Jackson were next in line with six apiece.
 
SE held a six point lead at 64-58 after a Bobby Johnson three with 1:19 to play, but an SAU three at the 1:03 mark would cut that lead in half.
 
The Muleriders would go to the free throw line with 21 seconds left and miss both free throws, but SAU's Tony Aska was able to get a put back and cut the Storm lead to 64-63.
 
Cook would then connect on one of two free throws to go up 65-63, however, Aska would draw a foul on a drive to the bucket, making the shot and the ensuing free throw to give the Muleriders a 66-65 lead with 10 seconds left which would prove to be final score as those whistles went silent over the final seconds.
 
Southeastern was whistled for 22 fouls on its home floor across from 15 for SAU, with the visitors holding a 24-to-15 edge in free throw attempts.
 
While the Storm held the lead early on, the Muleriders would use a 9-0 run early in the first half to open up a seven point lead at 15-8.
 
That gap would get as large as eight points, but SE would rally and twice take one point lead, first on a Lonzie layup and later on a pair of Cook free throws, but it was SAU who would lead 31-30 at the break.
 
The Storm used an 11-0 run early in the second which was capped by a Jobe three to erase a four point deficit and take a 43-36 lead.
 
That lead would ultimately hold until the final seconds, with the final lead change making the score 66-65.