DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern secured a regular season Great American Conference Championship by sweeping a stretch of six games over 10 days, earning them the No. 1 seed in the GAC Tournament where they will host rival East Central at 5:45 p.m. on March 3 at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Okla.
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The Savage Storm finished the regular season riding a seven-game winning streak and are 23-5overall and 18-4 in league play.
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SE earns the top seed for the first time in GAC Tournament history, but has advanced to the second round or beyond in the last four tournaments, with three semifinal appearances and one trip to the finals.
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The final weekend of the season for the Storm saw
Adam Dworsky and
Ante Brzovic combine for 27 points in an 80-76 victory that served as a de facto regular season championship game, securing at least a share of the title.
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The next night SE made sure they would not have to share as
Jett Sternberger poured in 34 points to lead Southeastern to a 91-60 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
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Brzovic leads the team in scoring and rebounding for the season, putting up 17.6 ppg and hauling in 10.7 rebounds per outing.
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Dworsky is right on his heels with 17.5 ppg while handing out a league-best 6.8 assists per game.
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Sternberger follows with 16.7 ppg, while
Bobby Johnson is averaging 13.1 and
Kellen Manek is adding 12.7 per game.
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The Storm average 85.68 ppg on the year while shooting 48.3 percent overall from the field as a team.
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SE split its regular season matchups with East Central, dropping a 115-113 double-overtime matchup at home in January before avenging that loss with an 84-74 win in Ada, Okla., that ended a stretch of three games in four days.
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The Tigers come into the tournament with an 11-17 record on the year and a 9-13 mark in GAC play, and are 2-3 in their last five.
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Josh Apple leads ECU on offense with 15.0 ppg while also pulling down a team-best 7.3 rebounds per outing.
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Brennan Burns and Romello Wilbert are each handing out a team-best 2.9 assists per game.
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