DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State gets set to host a pair of Natural State foes on Thursday and Saturday when they welcome Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas to the Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
The Savage Storm face off with the Boll Weevils first on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m., before they meet the Muleriders on Saturday at 3 p.m.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern returns home from the Natural State with a pair of defeats to Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State. The Tigers jumped on SE early in the first game of the week, and the Storm would fall in a back-and-forth, high-scoring contest to HSU. SE sits 10
th in the GAC standings at 4-10, tied with East Central.
Chandler Dickinson and
Daniel Halldorsson each posted 20-point games against the Reddies. Dickinson matched his career-high of 20 points in the defeat and has seen double-figure points in three of his last four games. Halldorsson notched 26 points – one point shy of his season-high – and distributed seven assists versus the Reddies. The freshman guard paces the league in assists with 6.6 per game and leads all freshmen in DII in total assists (131) and assists per game.
Landon Condiff returned to the SE lineup versus OBU and HSU and recorded back-to-back double-digit point games. The Gainesville, Texas native tallied 11 points against the Tigers and had 15 against the Reddies while combining for five triples. Condiff is one of SE's four players who average double-digit points per game, with 11.7 points a game and leads the side with 41 triples.
The Savage Storm have relied heavily on guys off the bench this season, as they rank 26
th in all Division II with 30.30 points per game from the bench. SE has produced 92 points off the bench in the last five games and totaled 606 across the 20 games this year. A large part of that comes from freshman
DJ Dill, who leads the team with 13.4 points per game.
Southeastern has a chance to complete the season sweep on Thursday against Arkansas-Monticello after besting the Boll Weevils 62-58 earlier this season. SE has won seven straight over UAM and has not lost at home to the Weevils since 2017. The Storm have been excellent when hosting Arkansas-Monticello, with nine wins in the last 11 meetings in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
SE will be eyeing a better result against Southern Arkansas after an 80-62 defeat in the first match this season. The loss pushes the Muleriders ahead in the series 29-to-27, as the two sides head into the 57
th meeting, dating back to 1984-85. Condiff and
Robert Briley lead the scoring in the first game this year, with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
PREVIEWING ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
Arkansas-Monticello looks to get back to winning after back-to-back defeats last week to Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist. The Boll Weevils have just one conference win to their name, which came back on Jan. 9 against East Central, and has since lost seven straight, which puts them 1-13 in the league standings and 4-16 overall.
Despite their record, the Boll Weevils have one of the best scoring defenses in all Division II, with opponents averaging 63.0 points per game (7th in DII). However, on the other end of the court, UAM has struggled to score, as the team averages just 58.4 points per game. Seth Grandberry leads the side with 16.8 points a contest and has reached double-figures in his last nine games, including back-to-back 20-point games.
PREVIEWING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
The Muleriders had their three-game win streak snapped on Saturday in an 83-62 defeat to SNU. Southern Arkansas (9-11, 6-8) will first meet East Central in Ada before they head down to Durant to face the Storm. The Muleriders have struggled away from their home court this season with a 2-5 road record and have lost two of their last three.
SAU is led by a pair of scorers, who average 12 points per game in BJ Davis and Carel Ray Jr. Additionally, Davis paces the side in three-point shooting with 49 triples on a 36.6 mark from beyond the arc. Southern Arkansas averages 73.8 points per game and shoots 42.2 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from beyond the arc while averaging the second most triples per game (8.9).
