SE Holds off Late Rally in 86-73 Win

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern used a huge first-half outing to build up a 27-ppoint lead and weathered a furious rally over the final minutes by Southwestern Oklahoma State to hang on for an 86-73 win on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 10-5 overall on the year and 6-5 in Great American Conference play heading into a 7:30 p.m. matchup with Ouachita Baptist on Jan. 24 in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
SE had six players reach double-figures, with Kayo Goncalves coming off the bench with a team-high 16 points after turning in a 9-of-10 effort at the free throw line.
 
Kevin Buckingham was right behind him with 15 points on a 50.0 percent shooting effort, followed by a 14-point outing by Jett Jobe on the strength of a trio of threes.
 
Ziga Zatezic hit three threes as well and finished with 11 points, while Kellen Manek added 11 as well and Todd Dawkins came off the bench with 10.
 
With regular starting point guard Adam Dworsky out of action, Jobe stepped in and dished out seven assists as the Storm finished with 22 as a team.
 
Buckingham rounded out a double-double with a 14-rebound performance as SE held a 50-to-41 edge on the glass, while defensively Jobe added three steals.
 
The Storm shot 40.9 percent from the field for the contest, buoyed by a 55.0 percent effort in the first half which dipped to 19.2 overall for the second half.
 
SWOSU scored first, but a Buckingham layup on SE's first possession would tie the game and open a 7-0 run that included five points from Zatezic to take a 7-2 lead early.
 
SE would slowly pull ahead, taking a double-digit lead on a Zatezic three at the 9:17 mark at 26-16.
 
That push continued and at the 4:41 point of the first half a Manek jumper would double that lead to 41-21.
 
The Storm would finish the half on a 15-8 run, with Goncalves hitting a three at the buzzer to take a 56-29 lead at the break.
 
The lead stretched to 29 points twice early in the second, the last time coming on a Zatezic three with 18:29 to play, going up 61-32.
 
SWOSU would begin chipping away and the Storm lead was cut to 19 points by a 10-0 run.
 
SE stopped the bleeding and would hold a 70-48 lead with 7:01 to play.
 
A 9-1 Bulldog run would begin a rally that would ultimately become a 23-9 rally to cut Southeastern's lead to 79-71 with 1:26 to play.
 
Goncalves would go to the line and hit a pair of free throws and the Storm would hold on thanks to a 7-of-8 effort at the free throw line in the final 1:15, while defensively holding SWOSU to an 0-for-4 effort over that span from the field to preserve an 86-73 win.