Savage Storm Suffer First Loss at OBU

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Despite a 30-point effort from Kevin Buckingham, Southeastern suffered its first loss of the season, falling 80-77 in overtime in the Great American Conference opener at Oklahoma Baptist Thursday night in Shawnee, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 3-1 overall on the year and 0-1 in GAC play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. in Weatherford, Okla.
 
Buckingham led all scorers in the contest with 30 points, hitting 14-of-20 from the floor, including a pair of threes.  He also wrapped up a double-double with a game-best 14 rebounds while adding a steal and an assist.
 
Jett Jobe and Kellen Manek each added 13 points to join him in double figures, while Kayo Goncalves chipped in 12 points.
 
Jobe also dished out a team-high six assists, while Adam Dworsky added three.
 
The Storm finished the contest shooting 41.8 percent from the floor, but had a tough time from long range, hitting 25.8 percent from three-point range. SE also trailed in the free throw contest, hitting 3-of-5 over 45 minutes of play, while the Bison made 18 trips to the line, hitting 10 of them.
 
Southeastern held a 45-to-44 edge on the glass in the contest, led by Buckingham's 14 boards while Manek, Goncalves, and Dworsky each added seven rebounds.
 
SE took the lead on the opening possession and maintained the edge until OBU put together a 12-2 run to push out to a 26-20 lead with under five minutes to go in the first half.
 
The Bison would stretch the lead to 11 points before a Goncalves jumper with 1:34 to play in the half would close the halftime deficit to 35-26.
 
The lead would again reach 10 points early in the second half, but a 12-2 run capped by a Dworsky three-point-play would knot the game at 40-40 at the 16:01 mark.
 
The Storm would take a brief lead at 46-45 on a Buckingham layup, but a 13-2 Bison run would leave the Storm in a 10-point hole with 6:35 to play.
 
Southeastern would chip away, closing the gap to one possession on a Goncalves three with 30 seconds to play, and tying the game at 71-71 on a Jobe layup with 12 seconds to play, sending the game to overtime.
 
SE fell behind by four points before finally getting on the board but was unable to get back-to-back buckets.  The Storm got the ball back trailing by three, but was unable to get a three to fall and came out on the wrong end of the 80-77 final score.