Men's Hoops Opens Season at D2CCA Tipoff Classic

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern men's basketball will open the 2023-24 season when it heads to Lubbock, Texas, for the 2023 D2CCA Tipoff Classic where it will open the season on Nov. 4 with a 2:30 p.m. matchup against Northern Michigan before closing the weekend on Nov. 5 against No. 7 West Texas A&M also at 2:30 p.m.
 
The Savage Storm enter season as the Great American Conference favorites to earn a conference championship after topping the preseason poll and found a place receiving votes in the NABC preseason national poll.
 
SE collected 116 total points in the conference preseason poll, earning nine of the possible 12 first-place votes.
  
Southeastern closed out the 2022-23 season tied for second place with an 18-10 record and a 15-7 mark in league play, matching Southern Arkansas who posted a 15-7 conference mark and a 22-10 overall record.
 
The Storm returns seven of its top eight scorers from a season ago and four players who started 19 or more games.
 
Jet Sternberger returns after earning first-team All-GAC honors last season when he averaged 17.3 ppg while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and adding 4.5 rebounds per outing.
 
Brennen Burns was a second team All-GAC selection last season after putting up 15.5 ppg while shooting 52.8 percent from the floor and leading the conference with 4.8 assists per game.
 
SE also returns Kody Clouet and Kyle Leslie who each averaged more than 11 points per game last season, while Leslie returns as the team's top rebounder.
 
Northern Michigan comes into the opening weekend also receiving votes in the NABC preseason poll and picked second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after picking up four of the 10 first-place votes.
 
The Wildcats put together a 25-8 record a season ago that included a GLIAC Tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Midwest Regional Second Round.
 
Seventh-ranked WTAMU enters Sunday's contest having picked up a win on Friday over Illinois-Springfield by an 88-72 margin with Larry Wise putting up a game-high 30 points to lead the Buffs, with Ryland Hoyt adding 18.
 
Wise and Noah Pagotto each pulled down seven rebounds, while Wise handed out four assists.
 
The Buffs posted a 27-7 record a season ago, including a Lone Star Conference Tournament championship and an appearance in the finals of the NCAA South Central Regional tournament.