BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – No. 4 seeded Southeastern shot 53.2 percent from the floor and had a pair of 20 point scorers en route to an 85-83 victory over fifth-seeded Arkansas Tech on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Championship in Bartlesville, Okla.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 15-13 on the season and sets up a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Southern Nazarene at noon on Saturday afternoon in Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.
It is the first win in the GAC Tournament for Southeastern after going 0-4 in its first four trips and missing hte tournament in the last two seasons.
SE was led on offense by its two All-GAC honorees as
Kevin Buckingham and
Markell Henderson each turned in 20 points, with Buckingham hitting 5-of-9 from the floor and 9-of-10 at the free throw line, while Henderson was 7-of-9 from the field with three threes.
A'Torey Everett joined them in double-figures with 16 points, while
Adam Dworsky chipped in 13 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Jett Jobe just missed double-figures but finished hitting 3-of-6 from behind the arc and posted nine points.
Dworsky also finished with a team-best six assists as the team finished with 14.
SE finished with a 40-to-34 edge on the boards, led by Buckingham who hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds to wrap up a double-double, while Everett was next in line with seven.
Southeastern shot 55.2 percent in the first half, and after playing to an early 9-9 tie nearly six minutes into the game the Storm used a 14-0 run triggered by a
Markell Henderson layup and capped by a
DJ Henderson three, using just under four minutes to mount a 23-9 lead with 10:09 to play in the half.
After ATU closed the SE lead to 11 points SE would answer with an Everett jumper and a
Markell Henderson three to take its largest lead of the day at 35-19 with 5:36 to go in the first half.
A 6-0 Wonder Boys run would cut the lead to 10 points before the teams traded threes in the final 10 seconds and settled on a 42-33 Southeastern lead at the halftime break.
Buckingham scored to open the second half, but a 10-0 ATU run would close the Storm advantage to 44-43 at the 17:39 mark.
SE responded with an 8-0 run capped by an Everett fastbreak bucket to open up a 52-43 lead 15:26 to go.
The Wonder Boys would close to within a possession again, but another Storm run of 18-4 that was ended by a pair of Buckingham free throws to push Southeastern out to a 76-54 lead with 4:28 to play.
ATU made one more push and used a 12-2 run to cut the Storm lead to 78-76 with 1:56 to play.
Southeastern would use free throws down the stretch to hold off the Wonder Boys and preserve the 85-83 victory.
