Storm Rally Falls Short to No. 9 Oklahoma Baptist 63-59

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern battled back in the final three minutes of the game, but would come up short against No. 9 Oklahoma Baptist at home, 63-59.
 
The Savage Storm shot 39.7 percent from the field and went 11-33 at the three-point line to finish with a 33.3 percent clip from beyond the arc. The blue and gold were edged out at the glass 38-to-36, and had three trips to the foul line compared to the Bison's 16 attempts.
 
Chandler Dickinson paced the Storm with 16 points on 7-14 shooting, while pulling down five rebounds. Santiago Camacho Gomez recorded 11 points, and Ethan Wilkerson would chip in nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. Augusto Toledo finished with nine points off the bench, shooting 3-of-5 from deep.
 
Southeastern (6-17, 5-12 GAC) heads to Alva, Okla., on Monday to face Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. in the second meeting this season.
 
The Storm and Bison were locked in a defensive battle in the first half, as blue and gold led 8-4 at the 15:58 mark after early three-pointers by Saxon McWilliam and Dickinson. The Bison soon found their first lead of the game behind an 8-2 run to flip the advantage in their favor, 12-10. SE replied with a pair of baskets to regain the edge, but the lead would flip again with OBU taking a 17-14 edge at the halfway point of the first period.
 
SE leaned on the three-ball again over the next three minutes, with Ethan Scott and Deondre Dunn knocking triples to help push the blue and gold in front 24-21. The Storm would score one more basket in the final three minutes of the half to carry a 26-25 edge into the break, behind eight first-half points from Dickinson.
 
Southeastern matched its strong start to the first half in the second, building an 8-4 run behind a three-pointer by Camacho Gomez to extend its lead to 34-29. The Bison answered back with a 7-0 flurry to grab the lead again, but two triples by Camacho Gomez pushed the Storm ahead 42-38. The Bison replied with another big run, outscoring SE 15-2 over the next five and a half minutes to build a 53-44 gap.
 
Toledo soon caught fire for Southeastern, knocking down three consecutive three-pointers to cut the Bison's advantage to five, 58-53. A three-pointer by Dickinson continued to help the Storm close the gap, as a Wilkerson basket made it a one-possession game, 61-58, with 2:26 remaining. However, the late charge by Southeastern would fall short, as the Bison held off the late rally.