DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State closes out its fall 2024 slate with a home defeat to Southern Nazarene 87-81.
SE struggled to get its three-point shooting going against the Crimson Storm, finishing the game 4-of-18 from deep. The blue and gold shot 48.3 percent from the field and recorded 32 rebounds, while SNU shot over 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc with eight triples and 29 rebounds.
The Savage Storm had a handful of players reach double-figure points, led by
DJ Dill with 18 on 5-of-10 shooting.
Landon Condiff added 16, while
Santiago Camacho Gomez and
Ethan Wilkerson tallied 15 and 13, respectively.
Robert Briley paced the team at the glass with ten boards, and Gomez would see a team-best five assists.
Points were hard to come by for both sides to start the game, with Southeastern leading 4-3 at 16:59 after a Briley layup. From there, the Storm found it difficult to find the basket for the next three and a half minutes, allowing SNU to take the lead 11-4. The two sides traded baskets, and the Crimson Storm soon took a nine-point lead on a 4-0 run. However, the blue and gold were quick to reply with a 7-0 run capped off by a three-pointer by Dill to trim the gap to 19-17.
Southeastern stayed on the heels of Southern Nazarene through a pair of baskets by Briley and
Daniel Halldorsson, trailing 25-23. SNU found a flurry of points through an 8-2 run to stretch its advantage to 33-25 with 2:05 left in the half. The Savage Storm continued to battle, closing out the half on a 7-2 burst to trail 35-32 at the break.
SE stayed close to Southern Nazarene to start the second half, but a quick burst of points by the Crimsons Storm saw their advantage grow to 48-39. The visitors soon took their largest lead of the game, going ahead by 11, 55-44. Southeastern chipped into the gap to four, 57-53, on a 9-2 run capped off by a triple from Gomez.
The visitors picked up the pace again, stringing together seven straight points to extend their advantage to 64-53. SE replied with the hot hand of Dill, who scored five consecutive points, and later, a three-pointer by Wilkerson would cut the gap to 69-63. Southeastern stayed within striking distance to the Crimson Storm through a 5-0 burst to keep within five, 79-74. The final two minutes would end at the free-throw line, with Southern Nazarene holding on for an 87-81 win.
Southeastern (3-8, 1-4) returns to action again after the New Year holiday on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 3 p.m. versus Southwestern Oklahoma State in the Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
