Storm Punch Ticket to GAC Tournament, Down SWOSU 68-63

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The Southeastern men's basketball program punched its ticket to the Great American Conference on Saturday afternoon after beating Southwestern Oklahoma State 68-63. The Savage Storm will be the 6^th seed and face the No. 3 seed Harding on Friday, March 6, at 2:15 at the Northside Arena in Fort Smith, Ark.  
 
SE (9-19, 8-14) had four players reach double-digit points and shot 47.1 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from the three-point line with 11 triples. The Bulldogs held the advantage at the glass 39-to-31, while Southeastern converted eight free-throw shots compared to SWOSU's three.
 
Deondre Dunn led all scorers with 20 points and knocked down five three-pointers on 50.0 percent shooting from deep. Ethan Wilkerson and Chandler Dickinson chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Augusto Toledo had 10 with a trio of three-pointers. Santiago Camacho Gomez recorded 10 assists and 10 rebounds for a double-double and was one point shy of a triple-double with nine points.
 
The scoring ran through Wilkerson early for the blue and gold, as the sophomore tallied the Storm's first six points to lead 6-2. From there, the two sides matched each other in scoring with SE holding a 17-11 edge, and that quickly grew to 26-14 on a 9-0 run featuring a triple from Toledo and back-to-back three-pointers by Dunn.
 
Southeastern remained locked in from the three-point line, as a third triple from Dunn sparked a run of eight unanswered points that was capped off by another three-pointer by Dunn, 34-16. However, the Bulldogs had an answer and reeled off a 10-0 flurry to trim the Storm's advantage down to 34-26 at the 4:10 mark. SE pushed its advantage back to double-digits two more times in the half before SWOSU cut it to a nine-point game at the halftime break, 41-32.
 
The Storm was held scoreless for the first two and a half minutes of the second half, allowing the Bulldogs to pull within five, 41-36. The momentum stayed on SWOSU's side, as they extended their run to 11-2 to tie the game 43-all at the 15:02 mark. A three-pointer by Toledo stopped the bleeding for a moment, but the Bulldogs eventually took the lead 49-46. Southwestern held its edge over the next five minutes before a Wilkerson basket tied the contest 54-all.
 
SE soon picked up the pace again, building an 8-0 run behind three-pointers from Dickinson and Dunn to regain the advantage 62-55. Dickinson and Dunn combined again for back-to-back baskets to push the lead to 66-57, but the Bulldogs quickly pulled within three, 66-63, with a minute remaining. Needing a stop, the Storm defense tightened up and held SWOSU scoreless for the remainder of the game to secure a 68-63 win.