Burns Free Throws Preserve Storm Win at ATU

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.  – Brennen Burns hit 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:23 to hold off an Arkansas Tech rally and survive to pick up a 68-61 road victory for Southeastern on Saturday afternoon in Russellville, Ark.
 
The win is the team's sixth-straight, lifting them to 14-6 overall on the year and 11-4 in Great American Conference play.
 
Burns led a trio of double-digit scorers with 17 points, hitting 50.0 from the field and maybe just as importantly hitting 6-of-6 from the free throw line, all in the final 1:23 to preserve the Storm win.
 
Kyle Leslie was next in line with 14 points and hit four of the team's seven threes, while Landon Condiff came off the bench with 12 points.
 
Aaron Jacob chipped in seven points, while RJ Weeks added six and Kody Clouet finished with five.
 
Weeks and Jett Sternberger each finished with three assists, while Burns and Leslie dished out two each.
 
Leslie just missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds, while Jacob followed up with eight.
 
SE shot a season-low 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, but was sharp from the free throw line where the team finished 17-of-19, including hitting 10-of-10 in the second half.
 
The Storm pushed its lead to 10 points early in the second half, but a 15-5 ATU run would knot the game at 42-42 with 15:18 to play.
 
A Leslie three would end that run and SE would push its lead to 47-42.
 
The Wonder Boys would close to a two-point deficit with 6:27 to play, but a Leslie layup and a Condiff three-point-play would again push the SE lead to seven points at 62-55.
 
ATU would score the next six points to cut the Storm advantage to 62-61 with 1:38 remaining.
 
From that point on, burns would take over on offense, going 6-of-6 at the free throw line while the SE defense would not allow the Wonder Boys to score over the final minute, hanging on for the 68-61 win.
 
A pair of Weeks free throws put SE on the board first the contest, and the teams played back-and-forth over the first 2:26, with the Storm holding an early 7-6 lead.
 
The Storm would then reel off an 11-2 run triggered by a Clouet three and capped by a pair of Jacob free throws to take an 18-8 lead.
 
ATU would answer with six-straight points and would close the gap to four points four more times over the next four and a half minutes.
 
Condiff would connect on a three to get the Storm offense moving again as SE would score eight of the final 11 points to take a 34-25 lead into the halftime break.