Cold Shooting Leads to SE Road Loss

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – For the first time in nearly three weeks Southeastern found itself unable to pull off a second-half comeback as the team suffered one of its worst shooting efforts of the season in a 77-62 loss on the road to Southern Arkansas in Magnolia, Ark.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 16-5 overall and 11-4 in Great American Conference play going into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Arkansas-Monticello at 3 p.m. in Monticello, Ark.
 
"We didn't block anybody out," said head coach Kelly Green. "The best block out of the night was, I think, the next to the last play when I saw Al and Taylor turn and block out. Kellen I thought battled on the glass, he got in there and battled, but the rest of us, no. We got them missing shots in the first half, but they got every rebound. They got 16 points off second shots in the first half."
 
"We talked about winning the battle of the paint," Green continued. "We lost that. We lost everything tonight."
 
Ante Brzovic turned in his ninth double-double of the season as he finished the contest with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead SE in both categories while also handing out a team-best four assists.
 
Kellen Manek was next in line with 12 points and added eight rebounds, while Bobby Johnson hit a pair of threes on his way to 11 points.
 
Adam Dworsky finished the night with nine points, three assists and four steals, while Jett Sternberger chipped in eight and grabbed five boards.
 
Southeastern's 38.1 percent shooting effort form the game is its second worst of the season and the lowest in 10 games while the six made threes matches a season low for the Storm who have hit double-digit threes in 12 games this season. The 62 points scored is a season low as well.
 
SAU jumped out to an 8-0 lead out of the gate and would see its lead grow to 15-4 inside the first four minutes.
 
The Storm would chip away, with a Dworsky three at the 13:32 mark capping a 7-0 run to close the gap to 15-11.
 
Southeastern would ultimately close the gap to three points at 25-22 with 8:45 to play on a Johnson three and again with 6:31 to go in the half on a Sternberger three to close to 30-27.
 
SAU would close out the half on a 16-4 run to lead 46-31 at the half.
 
The Muleriders would inch their lead out to 20 points by the midway point of the second half, taking a 59-39 lead with 12:43 to play.
 
Southeastern would mount its usual second-half flurry in an effort to rally, going on 13-4 run capped by a Brzovic three to close the gap to 63-52 with 7:37 remaining.
 
After SAU answered, Brzovic would again close it to 11 points on a layup, but the Muleriders would score the next five points and eventually see its lead hit 17 points again before settling on the final of 77-62.