Storm Suffer 75-63 Defeat to No. 25 Ouachita Baptist

DURANT, Okla. – The Southeastern men's basketball program suffered a 75-63 defeat to No. 25 Ouachita Baptist in its return home to Bloomer Sullivan Arena on Thursday night.
 
The Savage Storm shot 40.0 percent from the field and were 7-29 from beyond the arc for a 24.1 percent three-point clip. Ouachita edged out the blue and gold at the glass 32-to-31, and held the edge at the free-throw line with 22 attempts to SE's 11 shots.
 
Ethan Wilkerson paced the scoring with 13 points on 6-14 shooting from the floor. Saxon McWilliam led the team with a season-high nine rebounds and added 12 points to his totals, while Tyler Long recorded a career-high 12 points.
 
Southeastern (4-14, 3-9 GAC) hosts Henderson State on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 3 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena for its next round of GAC action, as it looks to complete the season sweep of the Reddies. 

Dickinson provided a strong start for the Storm, opening the scoring with back-to-back baskets to help SE to a 6-0 advantage. The Tigers soon found their footing in the game and took an 11-9 edge behind a 6-0 run, but three straight three-pointers by the Storm, including back-to-back triples from Deondre Dunn, quickly flipped the lead back in their favor, 18-11. Southeastern kept its foot on the gas, with Wilkerson combining with Ethan Scott for five more points to extend the gap, 23-14.
 
Ouachita continued to battle and would close the gap to three and stayed on the heels of Storm after the blue and gold rattled off a 6-2 burst. Long and Wilkerson pushed Southeastern ahead by seven with a pair of baskets, but the visitors would close out the half with eight of the final 11 points to cut SE's advantage to two at the halftime break, 36-34.  
 
The Storm was led by Wilkerson in the first 20 minutes with nine points, while the team shot 50.0 percent from the field. Dunn knocked down two of the team's three pointers in the first period, as the team finished 3-11 from beyond the arc.
 
The two sides traded threes to open the second half tied at 42-all, and a second triple of the half for Long gave SE a 45-44 edge. Southeastern and Ouachita continued to match each other in a run of scores, with the Storm building a 6-0 burst behind four points from Dickinson to lead 52-50. From there, the Tiger defense clamped down on the blue and gold, allowing the visitors grab a 63-52 advantage on a 13-0 run.
 
SE cut into the deficit through four points by Wilkerson, but another run of scores for the Tigers pushed their lead to 71-59. Camacho Gomez connected two more times for the Storm, but Ouachita would control the final minute of play to win 75-63.