SE Clinches Postseason Berth with Win

ALVA, Okla. – Southeastern picked up its fourth-straight win and clinched a postseason berth in the Great American Conference tournament with a 79-72 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon in Alva, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 16-6 overall and 12-6 in GAC play.
 
Kevin Buckingham turned in his fourth-straight 20-point scoring outing, going 9-of-15 from the floor to post 23 points to lead all scorers.
 
Jett Jobe was hot on his heels, draining 6-of-9 threes to finish with 18 on the night, while Kellen Manek turned in 12 points and DJ Henderson turned in 12 off the bench on a 4-of-6 shooting effort from beyond the arc.
 
Jobe and Adam Dworsky each handed out seven assists while the Storm dished out 26 as a team.
 
Southeastern hit 65.2 percent in the first half and finished the contest shooting 55.6 percent from the floor, including a 45.5 percent effort from beyond the arc, hitting 15-of-33.
 
Buckingham just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, with Manek next in line with five.
 
Buckingham dropped 12 points in the first half to pace the offense, with Henderson coming off the bench to hit 3-of-4 from three-point range and add nine points.
 
The Rangers opened up on a 10-3 run out of the gate, but back-to-back threes from Jobe and Buckingham would answer, but it was not until a Henderson three with 11:42 to play in the half when the Storm would regain the lead at 16-15.
 
A Dworsky layup with 8:11 to go in the half would put SE up 29-21 and NWOSU would slowly close the gap over the remainder of the half, cutting the Storm advantage to 38-34 with 1:00 to play, but a Manek layup with 26 seconds to go gave Southeastern a 40-34 lead at the break.
 
SE kept the Rangers at arms-length to open the second half until NWOSU reeled off a 10-0 run from the 14:42 mark to the 12:21 mark, taking a 54-50 lead.
 
The Storm would trail, by as many as eight points and would slowly chip away at the deficit until Jobe connected on a three with 4:28 to take a 69-68 lead.
 
NWOSU would regain the lead briefly after a pair of free throws, but SE would answer with another Jobe three to kick off an 8-0 run capped by a Buckingham three to go up 77-70 with 1:11 to play.
 
The Rangers would tack on a pair of free throws, but Buckingham would provide an exclamation mark with 11 seconds to play to fashion the final of 79-72.