SE Opener Spoiled by Late MSUM Rally

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Four Southeastern players scored in double-figures, led by a game-high 24 from Jett Sternberger, but the Savage Storm was unable to hold off a late rally by Minnesota State-Moorhead in a 79-78 loss on Friday night in the season opener at the GAC/NSIC Challenge in Shawnee, Okla.
 
The loss opens SE's season at 0-1 heading into Saturday's 5:30 p.m. matchup with Wayne State in game two of the Challenge back in Shawnee, Okla.
 
Sternberger was 7-of-13 from the field, hitting a trio of threes and going 7-of-8 at the free throw line to lead all players on offense.
 
Ante Brzovic came off the bench to add 15 points, followed by 14 from Kellen Manek and 11 from Adam Dworsky.

Manek's 14 points put him over the 1,000-point mark for his Southeastern career, bringing his current total for the Storm to 1,007. He becomes the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 points.
 
RJ Weeks and Bobby Johnson each added six.
 
Dworsky finished the contest with a game-high five assists, with Manek, Weeks, and Johnson dishing out two apiece.
 
Manek led the way on the glass with seven rebounds, while Sternberge and Brzovic each pulled down six.
 
After MSUM opened the game with a bucket, Johnson provided an immediate answer with a three at the 18:08 mark.
 
A Manek jumper would give SE the lead back but the Dragons would tie the game, eventually taking an 11-9 lead before a Sternberger three would give the Storm the lead back at 12-11.
 
That three would trigger a 9-0 run capped by a Brzovic dunk that stretched the lead to 18-11 with 12:19 to play in the half.
 
SE would maintain a three-possession lead, stretching it to as many as 11 points before taking a 37-28 lead to the halftime break.
 
The Storm would stretch its lead to 13 points at 50-37 on a Dworsky fastbreak bucket with 16:15 to play.
 
MSUM would trim that deficit back to seven points by the 10:27 mark, but threes from Weeks and Sternberger would offset a Dragon jumper and give the Storm a 59-49 lead with 9:06 to play.
 
Moorhead would close that gap again down to five points twice over the next three minutes, but a bucket from Dworsky and a pair of Brzovic free throws would give SE a 67-58 lead with 4:51 to play.
 
The Dragons would chip away at that edge before knotting the game at 73-73 on a three with 57 seconds remaining.
 
A Brzovic three would regain the advantage for the Storm at 76-73, but MSUM would hit a jumper before fouling to send Manek to the line with 21 seconds left.
 
He would connect on those two free throws to regain a 78-75 lead, but another Dragon bucket with 14 seconds remaining would cut SE's lead to one point with Manek heading back to the line with 12 seconds on the clock.
 
This time his free throws were both off the mark, and MSUM would take its first lead of the second half with a baseline jumper to steal the 79-78 win.