SE Opens Tourney With SAU

DURANT, Okla. – For the second-straight season Southeastern will head into the Great American Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open play in Bartlesville, Okla., against seventh-seeded Southern Arkansas at noon on March 5.
 
The Savage Storm enter the postseason tournament with a 22-7 record overall on the year and finished league play with a 16-6 mark, finishing one game behind Southern Nazarene.
 
SE heads north on a three-game winning streak and has won five of its last six, with the lone loss coming on the road against its first-round opponent.
 
Kevin Buckingham has paced the Storm on offense all season and is averaging 21.4 ppg while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and hauling in 7.6 rebounds per outing.
 
Adam Dworsky is next in line in scoring with 14.5 ppg while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and is dishing out a GAC-leading 8.3 assists per game.
 
Kellen Manek follows right behind with 13.8 ppg, while Kayo Goncalves is adding 12.2 per game and hitting 47.2 percent from beyond the arc and pulling down 8.9 rpg.
 
A'Torey Everett is averaging 10.6 ppg and will be looking to return after missing the last four games, while Bobby Johnson is averaging 5.6 ppg in his absence with 9.0 ppg over his last four games.
 
Southeastern split the regular-season series with the Muleriders, with Buckingham and Dworsky each posting 20-point outings in a 77-55 home win, but found itself on the wrong end of a 69-65 score in Magnolia, Ark., when Buckingham finished with 22 to lead the Storm.
 
SAU comes into the matchup with a 13-15 record overall and a 10-12 mark in league play.
 
The Muleriders are paced by Aaron Lucas with 14.5 ppg and 4.1 assists per game.
 
Devante Brooks is next up with 13.8 ppg, while Jalen Brooks is putting up 13.5 per outing, with Brooks hauling in 9.0 rpg and Brooks is at 7.5 per contest.
 
A win on Thursday would send the Storm to the semifinals for a 2:15 p.m. game on March 7 facing the winner of the 3/6 matchup between Henderson State and Arkansas-Monticello.
 
Should SE advance, the finals would be on March 8 at 1 p.m.