SE Cruises to 83-55 Win to Open Road Trip

MONTICELLO, Ark. – Five players scored in double figures and Southeastern shot 53.8 percent in the second half to pull away to an 83-55 win over Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night in Monticello, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 7-5 overall on the year and 4-3 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southern Arkansas at 3 p.m. in Magnolia, Ark.
 
Kyle Leslie led Southeastern's scoring with 18 on the night on the strength of a 5-of-6 three-point shooting effort.
 
Brennen Burns came off the bench with 16, followed by 12 from Jett Sternberger.
 
Kody Clouet and Aaron Jacob each turned in 10 points.
 
Sternberger led the way in assists for the Storm with six, while Burns added three.
 
Leslie and Robert Briley handled the glass for SE with five rebounds each, while RJ Weeks, Sternberger, and Burns each grabbed four.
 
UAM opened with the first five points of the game, but the Storm recovered with the next six points to get its scoring moving.
 
The Boll Weevils would take a brief lead, but the Storm would respond with a 9-0 run capped by a Jacob three to push its lead out to 15-10 by the 11:41 mark of the first half.
 
UAM would close the gap to four points, but SE answered with a Burns three and would slowly push out, hitting double-figures on a Sternberger three with 3:40 to play, with a Burns layup at the buzzer extending the Southeastern advantage to 41-28 at the half.
 
Leslie would turn in 17 of his 18 points in the second half, shooting 6-of-8 overall and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 
As a team the Storm would go 7-of-15 from long range and finished with a 53.8 percent clip from the field in the second half.
 
Southeastern never trailed in the second half, with UAM briefly closing the deficit to single digits at 41-32 at the 18:12 mark of the second half.
 
A Leslie three on the next possession would push that lead back to double figures as part of a run that would extend to 16-3 with the Storm lead hitting 57-35 with 13:25 to play.
 
The lead would surpass 30 points on another Leslie three with 6:11 to play and would eventually cap out at 33 points when a Briley free throw gave SE an 83-50 lead with 2:39 to play before the Weevils closed the final tally to 83-55.