Cook's 34 Points Not Enough to Lift SE to Win

BETHANY, Okla. – Despite rallying from an 18-point deficit, Southeastern was unable to hold onto a slim second half lead at Southern Nazarene, falling 78-74 on Thursday night in Bethany, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 9-16 overall and 5-14 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Anton Cook led all scorers with 34 points, crossing the 20-point plateau for the ninth time overall and the seventh time in the last 10 games. He finished the contest shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from long range, connecting on 5-of-9 threes.
 
Gianpalo Riccio was next in line with nine points, while Tyler Lonzie chipped in eight and Jett Jobe added seven.
 
The Storm shot 45.3 percent for the game, including a 56.5 percent effort in the second half which also included a 6-for-12 mark from behind the arc.
 
Kevin Buckingham led SE on the boards with nine.
 
An early 6-0 run by SNU would give them a 10-4 lead and they would not relinquish in in the half, leading by as many as 18 points with 7:01 to play in the frame and again with 4:59 to go.
 
The Storm would put together a 10-2 run capped by a Riccio three to close the deficit to 10 points with 2:10 to go, but the Crimson Storm would push its lead back out to 44-31 at halftime.
 
SE trailed by as many as 17 points before a Jobe three triggered a 30-8 run, during which the Savage Storm tied the game at 67-67 on a Cook three and would take the lead on a trio of Cook free throws before taking a 72-67 lead on a Jose Libanio jumper with 3:10 to play.
 
Unfortunately, SNU answered with a 9-0 run of its own to regain the lead and go up 76-72 with 47 seconds to play.
 
Cook would connect on a jumper to get back within one possession, but the Crimson Storm would get a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to play to push the lead back to 789-74 which would hold to be the final score.