Brzovic Pulls Down Season-High 19 Rebounds as SE Tops OBU

DURANT, Okla. – Ante Brzovic collected 20 points and 19 rebounds as Southeastern pulled away down the stretch to a 72-56 win over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 19-5 overall on the year and 14-4 in Great American Conference play heading into a Sunday afternoon matchup with Eat Central at 3:30 p.m. in Ada, Okla., as a make-up for the road game missed earlier in the season.
 
"We were up on the ball," said head coach Kelly Green, "With better ball pressure in the second half. In the first half we were not pressuring the ball. We're not a team that's going to get out there and deny things. We're not going to guard you 94 feet. But whenever you get to the three-point line, and we just stood there and held our hand in the air and acted like we're putting pressure on the ball and we're not. No pressure on them in the first half. We came out in the second half and the defensive intensity predicated what we did on the offensive end."
 
Brzovic finished with 20 points for the eighth time this season and registered 10^th double-double with a season-high 19 boards, the third time this season he has pulled down 15-or-more. His 19 rebounds match the high mark in the conference this season.
 
Bobby Johnson was next in line with 17 points, with Jett Sternberger next up with 12 points.
 
Adam Dworsky rounded out the team's double-digit scorers with 10 points and just missed a double-double with nine assists.
 
SE bounced back from a 34.4 percent effort in the first half to shoot 53.6 percent in the second half, including a 42.9 percent clip from beyond the arc.
 
The Storm opened with the game's first five points and by the 15:01 mark had pushed its lead to 16-6 on a Kyle Leslie three.
 
OBU would answer by chipping away at the deficit with a 14-2 run to take a 20-18 lead with 7:20 to play.
 
The Tigers would push that advantage to four points at the 3:52 mark before the Storm erased the gap with the next five points, taking a 29-28 lead with 1:39 to play in the first half.
 
However, OBU would score the final five points of the half and SE would head to the half trailing 33-29.
 
Southeastern came out firing in the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the half, eventually taking a 41-33 lead following a Brzovic three at the 16:27 mark.
 
The advantage would remain single digits most of the second half, with the Tigers putting together a push that closed the score to 55-54 with 5:43 to play.
 
A Manek three would answer at that point and SE would score the next nine points to regain a double-figure lead, ultimately finishing the game on a 17-2 run over the final 5:43 on its way to a 72-56 win.