Brzovic 26-Point Effort Lift Storm to Win

DURANT, Okla. – Ante Brzovic turned in a game-high 26 points off the bench and Southeastern kept its winning streak intact with an 82-71 victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-1 on the year and 2-0 in Great American Conference play while extending the current SE winning streak to six games.
 
"Team's are getting the ball inside on us," said head coach Kelly Green. "They're driving the paint on us. They're getting right at the rim. Every time they scored they got right inside the paint. Fortunately, those are worth two and outside the line is worth three."
 
"What we did in the second half I thought was pretty good," continued Green. "Bobby Johnson got out there and started picking up full court and we made it a little bit more difficult on them just to walk the ball up the floor."
 
"He's really skilled," said Green of Brzovic, "And a lot of times it's hard to realize how big he is. He reaches up there so high, he's got that left hand, and he's got a nice touch around the basket and he does have good footwork. He's not a power player, he's more of a finesse guy around the goal and he's a big target to thrown the ball in to and has a chance to become a really good player."
 
Brzovic was 8-of-12 form the floor for the contest and hit a pair of threes while adding an 8-of-8 effort at the free throw line on his way to 26 points.
 
Three others would reach double-figures, with Jett Sternberger turning in 17, followed by 12 from Adam Dworsky and 10 from Bobby Johnson.
 
Kellen Manek just missed double-figures with nine.
 
Dworsky also finished the contest with eight assists, while Manek handed out three.
 
Brzovic nearly completed the double-double, finishing with a game-high nine rebounds, while Manek was next in line with five.
 
Southeastern finished the contest shooting 52.0 percent overall and hit 10-of-27 from beyond the arc along with a 20-of-24 effort at the free throw line.
 
SNU would pick up the game's first four points, but the Storm would answer, taking a lead at 11-8 on a Manek three at the 15:48 mark and going up by as many as nine points at the 8:30 mark of the first half.
 
The Crimson Storm would come roaring back with a 9-0 run to tie the game and would briefly regain the lead at 34-33 with 3:58 to play in the half.
 
A Sternberger three on the next possession erased that deficit and SE finished the half by scoring seven of the final 10 points to lead 40-36 at halftime.
 
SNU would come out and again take a one-point lead, this time twice in the early minutes of the second half but the Storm would answer the second with a 10-0 run capped by a Johnson layup to take a 54-45 lead with 13:35 to play.
 
The Crimson Storm would trim the SE advantage to five points with 11:58 remaining, but that was as close as it would get as Southeastern would push its lead into double-figures on a pair of Dworsky free throws with 8:46 to play.
 
That lead would peak at 16 points twice, the first on a Sternberger bucker and the second on a Sternberger free throw with 4:00 to play.
 
SNU would chip away at the SE advantage, but the Storm would hold off any real rally for an 82-71 victory.