DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State continues its home stand with its Great American Conference opener on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m. against Henderson State. The Savage Storm will then host Ouachita Baptist at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern dropped its second straight one-score game last Saturday in the Storm's final non-conference contest this season to Texas A&M-Kingsville 77-75. SE finishes its slate of out-of-conference games 2-4 with wins over Dallas Christian and Arlington Baptist.
SE's struggles in the last two defeats have come at the charity stripe, as the Storm has seen its opponents make 48 trips to the free-throw line while SE had just 19 attempts. Southeastern 80 attempts at the free-throw line is the third-fewest among the GAC. This year, teams are averaging 15.0 free throws per game compared to the blue and gold, who are seeing 9.5.
A pair of freshmen led the Storm versus TAMUK, as
DJ Dill had 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while
Ethan Wilkerson tallied a season-high 18 points. Dill is the Storm's top scorer with 15.8 points per game and is shooting at a high clip from the field at 55.8 percent (29-52) and beyond the arc at 50.0 percent (9-18). The Caddo, Okla. native has reached double-digit points in all but one game this year and has two 20-point contests.
Another standout freshman for Southeastern is guard
Daniel Halldorsson, who leads the conference with 58 assists and 9.7 per game. In addition, Halldorsson is one of five players for Southeastern averaging double-digit points with 12.8 points per game, and ranks second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per contest. The Storm are putting up 88.0 points per game and converting 49.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from the three-point line.
Southeastern looks to make it two wins in a row when they meet Henderson State for the 35
th time on Thursday. The SE and HSU series has favored the home side, as the Storm are 9-2 in the last 11 meetings in Bloomer Sullivan Arena compared to just 1-10 on the road. Last season, SE bested the Reddies 93-68 at home, with current members
Landon Condiff and
Elijah Hughey combining for 23 points and eight rebounds.
SE has owned the matchup against Ouachita Baptist lately, as the Storm boast a 12-game win streak over the Tigers. Heading into the 27
th meeting on Thursday, Southeastern leads the series 15-11, dating back to the first contest in 2012. The Storm swept the season series in 2023-24 with a 77-74 win on the road and a 95-74 win at home.
PREVIEWING HENDERSON STATE
The Reddies had a four-game win streak snapped last time out, as Henderson State (4-2) wrapped up its non-conference action with an 81-77 defeat to Christian Brothers. Thursday's contest will be HSU's first true road test this season, having played four home games and two neutral site contests. Among those neutral site games, Henderson battled back and forth with then No. 4 Minnesota State-Moorhead but would fall short 71-66 for its only other loss.
Freshman guard Rondae Hill led HSU versus Christian Brothers with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Hill is one of seven players averaging 8.0 or more points per game, and the Reddies have four players seeing double-digit points per game, led by Xavier Owens and Matthew Mayes with 13.0 and 12.0 points, respectively. Additionally, Mayes leads the team in assists (17) and is third in rebounding (5.0 rpg).
Henderson is the second highest scoring team in the GAC, averaging 90.0 points per game, and ranks second in field percent, shooting at 51.2 percent clip. In three of their four wins, HSU eclipsed 95 points, including back-to-back 100-point games against Champions Christian and Kansas Christian College.
PREVIEWING OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita opens GAC play at East Central before heading to Durant to take on the Savage Storm. The Tigers enter conference play on a hot streak, having won their last five games, including a 109-82 victory over Champion Christian to conclude non-conference action. Ouachita's only blemish on its record came in the season opener against Rogers State in the GAC/MIAA Conference Challenge 85-70.
The Tigers lead the GAC in scoring with 97.0 points per game and have two players averaging 20 points per game, led by Hobert Grayson with 24.3 on 57.3 percent shooting from the field and a 52.2 percent three-point shooting clip. The junior forward tallied a season-best 33 points in the win over Champion Christian and added 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double. Grayson also paces the team at the glass with 12.0 boards per game.
Shaun Williams joins Grayson as the Tiger's other high-scoring player with 21.0 points per game and leads the side with 18 triples on 51.4 percent shooting. Ouachita's shot-making has been efficient early on, converting 54.8 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from beyond the arc, both of which top the conference leaderboards.
