Men's Hoops Set for GAC Tournament

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Second-seeded Southeastern will aim to carry its momentum into the postseason when it heads to Bartlesville, Okla., to take on No. 7 Seed Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Tournament.
 
The Savage Storm come into the postseason with a 20-6 record and have won eight-straight games and 11 of its last 12 while wrapping up the second seed in the postseason tournament with a 16-6 record in GAC play.
 
SE also heads into the tournament ranked ninth in the latest Central Region poll released on Wednesday.
 
Southeastern finished the regular season averaging 80.9 ppg and winning by a 10.7 ppg margin thanks in part to shooting 47.4 percent as a team overall and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Kevin Buckingham paces the offense with 20.5 ppg which ranks second in the GAC, while also pulling down a league-leading 9.4 rpg.  He is shooting 58.9i percent from the floor and has posted 15 20-point outings this season and a league-best 11 double-doubles.
 
Kellen Manek is next in line with 13.4 ppg, just ahead of Jett Jobe who is putting gup 13.1 ppg on the year. The pair have combined to hit 109 threes.
 
Jobe also paces the team in assists with 5.8 per game while Adam Dworsky is right behind with 5.0 per game, making them the only teammates in the Central region averaging 5.0 apg or better each.
 
SE split with UAM during the season, dropping the first meeting on the road by a 68-60 margin before evening the score in the second-to-last week of the regular season with a 79-72 home win.
 
The Boll Weevils are averaging 70.2 ppg on the season while allowing 66.9 per outing for its opponents.
 
UAM is led by a trio of scorers who average in the 12.0 ppg range, led by the 12.8 of KJ Lesure, while Austin Hady and Darnell Wright are each putting up 12.1 ppg.
 
Wright is the team's leading rebounder at 6.8 rpg, while Lesure is handing out 4.3 assists per contest.