Dworsky Scores 43 in Double OT Loss

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern had three 20-point scorers, led by a career-high 43 points from Adam Dworsky but it was not enough to lift the Savage Storm in a 115-113 double-overtime loss to East Central on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops SE to 11-3 overall on the season and 6-2 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon rematch with Southwestern Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. back in  Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
"I thought their pace was better than ours early," said head coach Kelly Green. "They were running the ball at us and we weren't doing a very good job of getting back. The bottom line was we couldn't guard them. Couldn't stop them. And when we did get them to miss they got a couple offensive rebounds at the end. And still with all those things we go to the line a few times with a chance to extend the lead and we miss free throws."
 
Dworsky finished the night with a game-high 43 points on 17-of-31 shooting with four threes and was still able to hand out a game-best seven assists alongside his four rebounds and two steals.
 
Jett Sternberger added 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting and added four rebounds and four assists.
 
Ante Brzovic turned in a double-double in his return to the lineup after missing two games, going 9-of-16 from the floor to finish with 22 points and hauling in a game-high 15 rebounds. It marks his fifth double-double on the season and his second-straight game with 15-or-more rebounds.
 
Kellen Manek rounded out the double-figure scoring for SE with 13 which included knocking down both three point attempts he took.
 
Southeastern finished the game shooting 52.9 percent overall and shot better than 50 percent in both halves as well as overall for two overtimes.
 
The Storm opened the game on an 11-2 run over the first four minutes and would lead by as many as 10 points in the first half before seeing that lead disappear over the final six minutes before heading to the half trailing 50-45.
 
SE came out and would tie the game by the 18:36 mark of the second half, and would even push out to a five-point lead, but ECU would use another late-half run to take an 86-77 lead with 6:18 to play in regulation.
 
The Storm would chip away and a Brzovic three with nine seconds to go would knot the game at 94-94 and force overtime.
 
Southeastern scored the first six points in the first OT session, but would go cold over the final 2:34 as the Tigers would close the frame on a 7-1 run to force a second overtime tied at 101-101.
 
The Storm would again strike first and would lead by three points twice, the last coming on a Sternberger bucket with 2:46 to play in the second OT at 108-105.
 
ECU responded with a 7-2 run to mount a 112-110 lead with 39 seconds left, but a Dworsky free throw and a layup with eight seconds to play would give the Storm a 113-112 lead.
 
Unfortunately, the Tigers would get a bucket from Brennen Burns with four seconds to play to take the lead and after a turnover on the inbounds play, ECU would tack on a free throw to make the final 115-113.