Storm Hold on For Win Over ATU in Road Finale

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Four players reached double-figures and Southeastern drained 16 threes as the Savage Storm held on for a 75-68 victory over Arkansas Tech in the final road game of the season on Tuesday night in Russellville, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 21-5 overall on the season and 16-4 in Great American Conference play and brings SE into a tie with Oklahoma Baptist for the top spot in the league standings heading into Thursday night's matchup between the schools slated for 7:30 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan arena.
 
"We came out really good," said head coach Kelly Green, "Basically we subbed. You don't want to blame the guys that subbed in because they didn't necessarily do anything wrong themselves. But we got a 10-point lead early with the flow of us offensively and defensively. We did have a couple of breakdowns and a couple of missed opportunities and they got right back in the game, and we were late on some closeouts."
 
Bobby Johnson led the way for the Storm with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting overall and a 4-for-6 effort from beyond the arc.
 
Kellen Manek connected on 5-of-7 three-point shots to account for all 15 of his points, while Adam Dworsky got to 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting with a trio of threes, while also dishing out a game-high nine assists.
 
Ante Brzovic rounded out the double-figure scoring with 11 points and rounded out his 12^th double-double of the season with a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Storm defense forced 16 ATU turnovers, snagging 12 steals, with Manek, Dworsky, and Johnson each grabbing three.
 
The teams traded buckets early, with ATU taking a 12-11 lead over the first four minutes.
 
At that point SE would put together its first run of the contest, reeling off 10-straight points, capped by a Manek three to take a 21-12 lead by the 14:13 mark.
 
The Wonder Boys would rally however, using a 16-5 run to take a 28-26 lead by the 10:46 mark of the half.
 
Southeastern would again put together a run though with the next nine points, capped by a Johnson three followed by a Johnson layup to go in front 35-28 with 7:25 to play in the half.
 
ATU would put together the last run of the half, however, outscoring SE 12-7 to cut the Storm advantage to 42-40 at halftime.
 
Three by Johnson and Dworsky over the first 2:20 of the second half would quickly push the Storm lead out to eight points.
 
The Wonder Boys would chip the gap down to four points at the 15:39 mark, but a 7-2 run would stretch the lead back to 55-46 with 13:46 remaining.
 
ATU would make push to within two possessions by the midway point of the second half, but an 11-2 run on the back of threes from Kyle Leslie, Brzovic, and Johnson would push the Storm out to its largest lead of the contest at 70-56 with 5:26 remaining.
 
The Wonder Boys would answer with eight-straight points, but a Manek three at the 3:51 mark would end that run and put SE in front 73-64.
 
ATU scored the next two buckets over the next two minutes, cutting the Southeastern advantage to five points.
 
The Storm defense would force the Wonder Boys to miss its final three shots over the last minute, with Brzovic sinking a pair of free throws to fashion he final score of 75-68.