DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State drops its home game to the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech 76-64 on Saturday afternoon.
The Savage Storm struggled to get its three-point shooting going, converting 20.7 percent (6-29) from beyond the arc, and ended the game shooting 35.2 percent (19-54) from the field. ATU dominated the glass with 41 rebounds compared to SE's 26 while finishing the game with a 49.2 percent mark from the floor.
Southeastern had three players reach double-digit points, with DJ leading the way with 17, while
Robert Briley and
Elijah Hughey had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Daniel Halldorsson dished out five assists and chipped in six points in 39 minutes of action. Halldorsson was one of three players who were perfect from the foul line, and the team would finish 20-of-23.
Points were hard to come by in the game's early goings, with the score tied 3-all after three minutes. Both teams began to settle in, as the two sides traded buckets over the next two minutes, with the Storm trailing by one 8-7 after a layup from Briley. Following a burst of points by the Wonder Boys, SE built a 7-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from Dill to keep the blue and gold within one.
From there, Southeastern converted three shots from the foul and began to find its range from deep with a pair of triples from
Landon Condiff and Hughey, helping SE take the lead 29-28. Dill kept Southeastern ahead with three makes at the charity stripe, but a late run of points by the visitors gave Arkansas Tech a 35-32 edge at the halftime break.
Southeastern quickly regained the lead out of the break after Hughey started the scoring with a three-pointer. ATU responded to the fast start with a flurry of points to build a 9-2 run to flip the lead back in its favor 44-39. The Storm kept on the heels of the Wonder Boys through baskets from Briley and Halldorsson, but another quick burst of points from the visitors pushed their advantage to 51-43.
Arkansas Tech stayed in control over the next six minutes, as its lead stretched to double-digits, 63-49. SE continued to battle, cutting in the gap through five straight points from Briley to make it a nine-point game with 2:46 left. However, Arkansas Tech knocked down three consecutive baskets to stop the Storm's late charge for a 76-64 win.
Southeastern (5-11, 3-7) begins a four-game road stretch next timeout as they head up north to Ada to face rivals East Central on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
