SE Rallies from 14 Down for GAC Opening Win

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southeastern opened Great American Conference play in a dramatic fashion, erasing a 14-point deficit over the final 10:55 with Adam Dworsky connecting on a layup with 7.5 seconds left to give the Savage Storm a 77-76 road win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night in Weatherford, Okla.
 
The win lifts SE to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in GAC play and extends its current winning streak to five games heading into a Dec. 4 home matchup versus Southern Nazarene at 3 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
"Conference is always interesting, isn't it," said head coach Kelly Green.
 
"Not only coming from behind," continued Green when asked about the team's rally, "But not really playing that well. And they had a lot to do with that. We watched them and we knew they were much better shooters than they had shot the ball. We even talked to our guys about it. We were never really in very good synch. I thought our pace was really, really slow at the first of the game and a lot of it is what they did."
 
Dworsky would lead all scorers with 18 in the contest, going 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range while also dishing out four assists. Kellen Manek added 12 points on the strength of a trio of threes.
 
Ante Brzovic and Bobby Johnson came off the bench to power the Storm rally in the second half with Brzovic dropping 15 point and Johnson adding 11 with three threes.
 
Brzovic also led the way on the board with nine, while Kyle Leslie had eight board to go with eight points and a team-high-matching four assists.
 
Jett Sternberger just missed double figures with nine.
 
SWOSU wasted little time building on its halftime lead, pushing its advantage to 50-39 by the 17:55 mark of the second half.
 
The deficit would remain double digits for nearly eight minutes, peaking 14 points with 11:43 remaining, and again at the 11:11 mark.
 
A Johnson three would trigger a run and on the next possession he would hit a layup to get the deficit to single digits.
 
It would tice climb back to 10 points, but a Sternberger three and a Bzzovic bucket with 8:03 to play would cut the gap to 67-62.
 
It would remain a two-possession game until a Johnson three with 3:09 remaining closed the deficit to 69-68.
 
Just under a minute later Brzovic would give SE its first lead of the half at 70-69 on a hook shot in the lane with 2:13 to play.
 
The teams would trade the lead, with the Bulldogs going ahead 76-72 on a Kamden Gipson three with 30 seconds to play.
 
Brzovic would answer with a three as well with 18 ticks remaining, and Gipson would miss the front end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds left to give SE a shot at the lead.
 
Dworsky would take advantage of that opportunity, hitting a driving layup down the left side of the lane with 7.5 second remaining to take a 77-76 lead.
 
Johnson would secure a steal on an errant pass with one second to play to ensure the victory.
 
SWOSU would score the first five points of the game, but the Storm came roaring back with eight-straight, capped by a Dworsky three at the 16:02 mark.
 
The teams would trade buckets before the Bulldogs would jump out to a six-point lead, eventually stretching that advantage to 27-19 with 9:35 to play.
 
A Weeks layup and a Dworsky three would narrow the deficit and a Kyle Leslie three at the 7:37 mark would knot the game at 27-27.
 
SWOSU would hold off the Storm until the 4:53 mark when a Sternberger three would give SE its first lead since the early minutes of the half at 32-31.
 
A Manek layup stretched it to 34-31, but the Bulldogs would finish on a 10-3 run to leave SE in a 41=37 hole at the half.