Dworsky Heroics Lift SE to OT Win at OBU

DURANT, Okla. – Adam Dworsky drained a game-tying three with 0.5 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime where No. 19 Southeastern outscored Ouachita Baptist 13-6 to pick up a 90-83 victory on Thursday night in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
The win is the sixth in-a-row for the Savage Storm who improve to 15-3 overall on the season and 9-2 I Great American Conference play heading into a 3 p.m. matchup with Henderson State on Saturday afternoon in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
"Ryan had been talking to the guys," said head coach Kelly Green of Dworsky's hustle late in overtime, "About we've got to be the first to the floor on all the loose balls. I don't know that we were all game, but we were on that play. Adam got down there and got low and kept the ball alive."
 
"We had some good fortune tonight," continued Green. "I thought we played pretty decent in the first half at times and then they did a great job of keeping us on one side of the floor. Seemed like all we were doing was dribble handing off and not going any place. We did a better job in the second half of not doing that as much but then we got down without getting the ball inside."
 
Kevin Buckingham returned to form on Thursday with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, while Kayo Goncalves connected on 7-of-12 three pointers to finish the night with 22 points.
 
Dworsky turned in 19 points on the night, hitting 3-of-6 from three-point range, while Kellen Manek put up 17 in the effort.
 
Goncalves just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, while Buckingham was on his heels with eight and SE held a 35-to-33 edge on the boards as a team.
 
Dworsky bounced back from a slow start in the passing game and finished the game with seven assists after dishing out just one in the first half, while Manek dished out five.
 
Goncalves led all scorers in the first half with 12 on a 4-of-5 effort from three-point range, while Dworsky and Buckingham added seven points each.
 
The Storm were 7-of-17 from long range in the first half and shot 48.3 percent overall from the field.
 
The teams opened at a frenetic pace, playing to an 8-8 tie three minutes in and by the 15:12 mark of the opening half the Storm had jumped ahead 16-11 following a Buckingham three.
 
OBU would score the next five points to tie the game, but SE answered with a 7-0 run capped by a Manek jumper to take a 23-16 lead with 9:43 to go in the half.
 
The Tigers cut the Storm lead to two points before another 7-0 run was capped by a Manek bucket to go ahead 30-21 with 3:44 remaining in the half.
 
OBU would finish the half on an 11-5 run to trim the Southeastern advantage to 35-32 at halftime.
 
SE would push its lead out to six points on a Buckingham bucket with 17:34 to go in the second half, but OBU would respond with a blazing 20-5 run to swipe the lead and push it out to 56-47 at the 12:17 mark.
 
The Storm was unable to close the gap to one possession, with the Tigers repeatedly pushing the advantage back to nine points, the last time coming with 4:18 to play at 73-64.
 
A Dworsky layup and a Manek three would close the gap, but it was a Buckingham layup with 56 seconds to go that cut the deficit to 75-73.
 
Another Buckingham free throw with 9 seconds to go would get SE to within one point, but a pair of Tiger free throws extended the home team edge to 77-74 with 6 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Dworsky would drive the ball up the left side of the floor and heave up a three that would bank in with 0.5 seconds left and force overtime.
 
OBU would strike first in OT and took an 83-80 lead with 2:54 to play.
 
Those would be the Tigers' final points as a Goncalves three would answer and tie the game at 83-83, kicking off a 10-0 run capped by two Dworsky free throws which secured a 90-83 win.