WAYNE, Neb. – Southeastern nearly erased a 17-point second half deficit with a late rally, but ultimately saw its stretch effort come up short in an 83-76 loss to No. 21 Minnesota State Moorhead on Saturday evening in Wayne, Neb., as part of the GAC/NSIC Crossover.
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The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-1 on the year with the next stop on the schedule set for a Nov. 25-26 trip to Alamosa, Colo., for the Adams State Classic to take on Fort Lewis and Adams State.
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Brennen Burns led the Storm on offense for the second-straight game, putting up 24 points on an 11-of-19 shooting effort while also handing out a team-best six assists.
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Landon Condiff came off the bench to hit four threes and finish with 16 points, while
Jett Sternberger pisted 13 with a par of threes and
Kyle Leslie added 10 with two threes as well.
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Sternberger and Leslie also led the way on the board with six apiece, while
Kody Clouet added five.
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Southeastern shot 42.6 percent from the floor for the game, thanks to a 50.0 percent effort in the second half that included six threes.
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MSUM scored the first 11 points of the game and would lead by as many as 14 points over the first eight minutes, but a Condiff three would set off an 16-6 run capped by another Condiff three which closed the gap to 26-22 with 6:37 to play in the half.
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However, the Dragons would respond and push their lead back to double figures, pushing out to a 15-point advantage before a Clouet bucket in the final 30 seconds would cut the Storm deficit to 40-27 at halftime.
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The MSUM lead would extend to 17 points early in the second half but SE would again mount a rally, this time using a 19-5 run to close the deficit to 51-46 following a pair of Clouet free throws with 12:40 remaining.
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One more Dragon push would see their lead reach 16 points again with 5:36 to play, but a Condiff bucket would trigger a 14-3 run capped by a Burns layup to cut the gap to 75-70 with 1:09 to play, but that was as close as it would get as MSUM would hold on to an 83-76 final score.
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