Five in Double-Figures as Storm Crack 100 in Win

SEARCY, Ark. – Southeastern put five players in double figures and cracked the century mark for the third time this season en route to a 100-83 victory over Harding in Searcy, Ark., to open 2024.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 8-5 on the season overall and 4-1 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Arkansas Tech in a battle for the top spot in the conference standings at 3 p.m. in Russellville, Ark.
 
Kody Clouet led all scorers in the game with 29 points, shooting 9-of-17 for the game overall and hitting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
 
Chandler Dickinson followed up with 16 points with a trio of threes, while Brennen Burns came on strong in the second half to finish with 15.
 
Robert Briley and Santiago Camacho Gomez rounded out the double digit scoring with 10 each off the bench.
 
Gomez led the way with six assists with Burns right behind with five as SE piled up 22 as a team.
 
Briley just missed a double-double with nine rebounds to lead the Storm on the boards with Clouet adding seven and seven players pulling down at least three boards.
 
Southeastern held a huge edge on the glass with 44 rebounds to the Bisons 31.
 
Offensively SE opened the contest shooting 55.6 percent overall and drained 6-of-15 threes in the first half, and ultimately finishing the game hitting 53.7 percent overall and going 12—of-29 from beyond the arc.
 
Southeastern opened the contest on a 9-2 run to take the lead early and would extend that advantage, first pushing the lead to double figures on a Dickinson bucket and taking a 12-point lead on a pair of Briley free throws at the 12:56 mark.
 
HU answered with a 9-0 run to trim the Storm lead to just three points at 23-20 with 11:18 to play, but a Sternberger three would stop the bleeding and a minute later a Clouet three would cap seven-straight points to0 see the lead reach 10 points again.
 
The Bisons would close to within five points three times in the final seven minutes of the half, but SE would outscore HU 13-6 over the final 3:30 to take a 55-43 lead at the halftime break.
 
Harding would score the first four points of the second half, but the Storm offense would respond with a 15-4 run to push the lead to 70-51 by the 15:15 mark of the half.
 
The Bisons would answer with a 21-7 run over the next 6:30 to erase the huge Storm lead and close the gap to 77-74 with 8:34 to play.
 
After the teams traded a bucket each, it was a Gomez three that triggered seven-straight SE points as the Storm closed the final seven minutes of the game on an 18-7 run to pull away for the 100-83 victory.