SE Outlasted by UAM in Back-and-Forth Second Half

Durant, Okla. – Southeastern and Arkansas-Monticello saw 17 lead changes on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth game, but the Storm would fall short 71-66 to the Weevils in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The Savage Storm scoring was led by four players in double-digits, as Ethan Wilkerson recorded a team-high 16 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. Chandler Dickinson chipped in 14 points, while Ethan Scott tallied three of the team's eight triples for 10 points. Jamal Drewery rounded out the scoring with 11 points, and SE would finish shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and 8-22 from beyond the arc.
 
SE held the advantage on the glass with 30 rebounds to UAM's 26, and was led by Dickinson with nine rebounds. Deondre Dunn added seven more rebounds, while Wilkerson pulled down four offensive boards on his way to six rebounds.
 
Southeastern (4-10, 3-5 GAC) begins a four-game road stretch with a trip to the Natural State on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 7:30 p.m. against Harding.
 
The blue and gold converted their first two baskets to carry an early 4-2 lead and took advantage of UAM's offense that was slow out of the gates, extending the gap to 10-4. The Weevils soon dialed in after the first media break, knocking down a pair of three-pointers to quickly flip the advantage in their favor 14-10. SE replied with three straight baskets, and moments later Drewery knocked down a triple to push SE in front 19-16.
 
Arkansas-Monticello again had an answer to the Storm's flurry of scores, as they rattled off an 8-3 run to regain the lead 24-22. A layup from Wilkerson tied the half 24-all, but the Weevils pushed back out ahead 30-26 with 3:12 remaining in the half. Only eight points would be scored in the final three minutes of play, and six would go to the Storm after back-to-back triples from Dickinson and Wilkerson to go into the halftime break tied 32-32.
 
Southeastern shot 48.3 percent from the field in the opening half and were 4-12 from beyond the arc, led by nine points from Dickinson and Wilkerson.
 
The Storm and Weevils were locked in a back-and-forth start to the second half, with five lead changes in the first five minutes. Wilkerson connected on back-to-back baskets to give the blue and gold a 45-42 edge, but a run of points for the visitors gave them a 47-45 advantage. From there, Scott began to find his range from beyond, draining his first triple and a second soon followed to give SE a two-point advantage.
 
SE and UAM continued to match each other in scoring, with the Storm down one, after a third three-pointer from Scott, 59-58. The Weevils started to build a gap on the blue and gold in the final three minutes, taking a 67-62 lead with a minute remaining. The Southeastern offense struggled to close the gap during the final stretch, as the visitors had an answer for each score, allowing UAM to close out the game, 71-66.