Storm Hold On For Win over No. 15 NSU

BETHANY, Okla. – Southeastern opened the 2019-20 season in victorious fashion, holding off a late charge to pick up a 75-64 win over No. 15 Northern State on Friday afternoon in Bethany, Okla., as game one of the GAC/NSIC Challenge.
 
The Savage Storm open the season 1-0 heading into their second game of the challenge on Saturday when they face Minnesota-Duluth at 3:30 p.m. back in Bethany, Okla.
 
SE was paced by A'Torey Everett who matched a game-high 22 points to lead the Storm, with Kevin Buckingham not far behind with 17 points.
 
Adam Dworsky was next in line with 14 while Kayo Goncalves finished the contest with 12.
 
The Storm shot 60.0 percent from the field in the first half and held on through a cold shooting effort over the second 20 minutes to finish the day shooting 45.2 percent overall, including hitting eight threes on the day.
 
Dworsky turned in the team's first double-double of the season with 12 assists to go with his 14 points, as SE finished with 18 helpers as a team.
 
Goncalves led the Storm on the glass with eight rebounds, while Everett added seven. Buckingham and Kellen Manek each tallied six boards.
 
Southeastern led the contest from start to finish, with a Buckingham layup and a Goncalves three in the first 1:08 putting the Storm in front 5-0 out of the gate.
 
Another Goncalves three at the 13:31 mark would give SE its first double-figure lead at 20-8.
 
The Storm continued to pour on the offense and by the 7:21 mark of the first half a Dworsky three would extend the lead to 36-12.
 
The lead would remain above 20 for the remainder of the half with an Everett jumper with four seconds to go putting SE up 50-25 at the break.
 
Buckingham would score the first five points of the second half to give the Storm a 55-25 lead, which would grow to 33 on a Dworsky three at the 15:47 mark with a 60-27 advantage.
 
The Wolves would come alive at that point, reeling off a 31-6 run to erase the huge Southeastern advantage and close the gap to 66-58 with 2:02 to play.
 
A Dworsky layup would keep the lead at 10 with 1:31 remaining and the Storm would hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to hold on for a 75-64 victory.