SE Erases 22-Point Deficit in Win over ATU

DURANT, Okla. – Ante Brzovic posted a double-double with a career-high 32 points and Southeastern erased a 22-point deficit on its way to a 74-67 victory over Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win is the second-straight for the team and improves the Savage Storm to 14-4 overall on the season and 9-3 in Great American Conference play.
 
"Since we won, it's real important," said head coach Kelly Green of the experience of rallying to a win. "Had we lost, it sucks nails. It was just almost the opposite of Thursday night. Everything Arkansas Tech was doing they were doing faster. They were running their stuff harder, cutting harder, moving the ball harder and getting open shots. Defensively, we did not get any open looks, they did a great job defensively. There was always a hand in our face and we took some bad shots. They whipped us for 15 minutes."
 
Brzovic poured in the game-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting overall and a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc. He would complete his seventh double-double of the year by pulling down 11 boards.
 
Adam Dworsky added another 20-point scoring effort to his resume, his sixth this season and second in-a-row, finishing with 21 while also dishing out a game-high seven assists. His seven assists moved him to 810 career assists which is good enough to move him into ninth-place on the NCAA's all-time career assists list in Division II.
 
In a rare outing, SE only had two players in double-figures, with Kellen Manek just short with eight points while matching Brzovic with 11 rebounds and nearly matching Dworsky by handing out five assists and blocking a pair of shots.
 
Bobby Johnson was next in line with seven.
 
SE shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second half and perhaps more impressively finished the contest hitting 22-of-23 from the free throw line.
 
The Wonder Boys jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and SE was stuck in catch-up mode from then on as the deficit would hit double-digits at 18-8 by the 13:05 mark of the half.
 
That was the beginning of what would go on to be a 21-2 run by ATU which expanded its lead to 32-10 with 8:06 to play in the first half.
 
Johnson would look to spark the Storm, scoring on back-to-back possessions including a dunk and SE would chip away, closing the gap to 35-21 on a Brzovic three-point play at the 4:17 mark.
 
The rally would stall slightly there, with SE finally inching the gap to 13 points before ATU finished the half with a three and the Storm were looking at a 40-24 deficit at halftime.
 
ATU would push that advantage to 18 points right out of the gate in the second half, but SE came ready to answer with an 8-0 run, capped by a Brzovic three to make the score 42-32 with 16:49 to play.
 
The Wonder Boys would answer with a bucket, but a Dworsky pull-up three on the next possession would make the deficit single digits and Southeastern continued to hip, with a pair of Brzovic free throws cutting the gap to one possession at 48-45 with 11:14 to play.
 
Dworsky would provide the game-tying shot with 9:14 remaining on a three, and RJ Weeks would give SE its first lead of the game at the 8:42 mark at 50-48.
 
ATU would tie the game up three times over the next three minutes, but a Brzovic three with 4:57 to play would put SE in front for good and kick off a 10-2 run to give the Storm a 64-56 lead with 1:26 remaining.
 
Southeastern would finish the game 10-for-10 from the free throw line over the final 1:07 to hold on for a 74-67 victory.